Mobi·gas·mic

My Life in a Nutshell

noreply@blogger.com (LuluGirl) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 07:00:00 PDT

One thing I can't say about the past few weeks is that they've been uneventful. They have been a flurry of action and activity and I haven't even had a moment to sit down to figure out how to put it on paper (or PC...whatever).

An interesting opportunity arose at work and I decided to apply for an opening that was available which would have translated to more responsibility and a slight salary increase. I was apprehensive about the potential for rejection, but thought I had to at least make the effort. I put together an extensive presentation detailing how I would tackle the position, as well as a comprehensive plan of action for filling my current role. I thought I did a stellar job, so you can imagine my disappointment when over 2 weeks went by with no word back from the CEO. I was crushed, not even by the rejection, but by the overwhelming sense that his lack of response meant that he hadn't taken me even remotely seriously. I tried to shrug it off, and put my nose back to the grindstone.

Right about at the 3 week mark, the CEO came to my office to pay me a visit. He explained what he was looking for in the position, and had decided that he wanted a licensed Nurse to assume the role. It was no surprise to me at that point that I wasn't going to get the position, and was just relieved that he was showing me the courtesy of giving me a formal response. What did surprise me was what he said next- there was a newer position that was available, at a more senior level, which he felt I would be better suited for. He explained the role and its scope and then gave me an tentative offer letter for it. I.was.stunned.

Of course these things take time to finalize, but the thing I was most impressed with was that the new salary (which went into effect this Monday) was made retro-active to the date of his offer letter (June 22). I boldly negotiated myself a 28% raise (!) which is something I never thought I'd have the nerve to do again after the blow to my self-esteem last year.

In the midst of all of that, Dean sat down to have a heart-to-heart with me about my Nissan Murano obsession. I am not a car person, but for some reason, I have been drawn to that SUV for quite a few years now. I've had my Daewoo Lanos for nearly 10 years now, and its been an absolute gem to me with no breakdowns, or crap-outs at all (my sister-in-law, who found my Daewoo endlessly amusing, is on her third Audi at this point). Dean and I exchanged cars about 3 years ago because his Nissan Xterra took about 3 times as much in gas as my Daewoo, but the lack of AC in the Daewoo combined with the unrelenting Texas heat has finally gotten to him. He decided that he would sell his 'hot-rod' (a 1978 Trans-Am that he bought and has been restoring over the past year or so) and the Daewoo, take back his Xterra and get me a Nissan Murano later this year. For the second time in a week, I sat with my mouth hanging open as someone gave me fantastic news that totally blew me away.

The icing on the cake of all this is that Seth has had an exceptionally healthy couple of months since he had surgery to have tubes put in his hears to combat the regular ear infections he was getting. He's speaking a lot more now (probably because he's finally hearing much better now) and repeats everything he hears. At nearly 21 months, he's already got his own personality, and has staked his own place in our home. He has his own 'Tonight Show' and does some stand-up comedy every evening for us (I admit, we don't get the jokes- "Juice! Freeze!" but watching him crack himself up is hilarious).

About 6 weeks ago I bought an stationary bike and since then I bike a few miles each morning as soon as I wake up and each evening. I haven't kept a close eye on the scale, but I have noticed that overall I feel much better, and my clothes definitely fit me differently. My main goal is to improve my stamina, and so far, it seems to be working!

So, all in all, I would have to say that life is good. I consider myself to be extremely fortunate to live my life, and I'm grateful to the man upstairs every single day. When I think back to this time last year and the despair, repeated rejections and complete hopelessness I was going through, I remember not to take a single thing for granted. And if you are going through a rough patch right now, as so many people are in this economy, remember that the sun will shine again. I promise you it will.

The 'Berry Best Time Ever

noreply@blogger.com (LuluGirl) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 07:00:00 PDT

Of all the mobile platforms, the Blackberry has historically been the one I've been least interested in. I thought it seemed stoic and archaic, and meant for the email-addicts only. In January 2008 my cousin got a Blackberry Curve and when she came for a visit that March she brought it with her to have a showdown with my Ubi. Sadly, she left the loser, and even ended up ordering a Jasjar just to enjoy some of the WM goodness she felt she was missing. A washed-out screen, and unexciting UI was to blame, and even though she still had that Curve up until last month (when she upgraded to an 8900).

Then in May I laid eyes on the Blackberry Bold and it was love at first sight. I couldn't convince myself to switch my OS, but a lot of what I didn't like about the Curve seemed to be fixed in the Bold- an exquisite, hi-res screen, a revamped UI that focused more on the eye-candy, a body that didn't look like a cheap top....it was the total package. But I was deeply invested in the Windows Mobile lifestyle and resisted the transition. From the Ubiquio I moved to the HP 910 for about 3 months, then another 3 months on the HTC Fuze. After admitting to myself that I couldn't hold back the longing anymore, I ordered a Bold and started using it at the the end of this January. I wish I could say I took to it like a fish to water, but it took at least one start and stop before I fully got on the bandwagon.

In the 6 months I've been using the Bold, I've realized that a number of developments in the RIM world have made it a more pleasurable experience. For me, a few of them have been:

-FaceBook 1.6: With the latest release of Facebook, you can have more of a 'synergy-like' experience and also view newsfeeds, which is something I've been wanting to have mobile access to for ages.

-Multi-tasking made even easier: In the earlier versions of the Bold OS, the 'task-switcher' had to be manually mapped to one of the convenience keys. That meant you'd only end up with one button, and since I had that mapped to the clock app, I was stuck without a quick way to launch the camera. Ever since .247, the 'task-switcher' is accessed through a long press of the Blackberry button.

-Bedside Mode: Remember last September, when I McGyver'd a bedside clock solution using my HP910 and SPB Time? It worked decently, but I remember the glare from that screen would light up the entire room. Well, the charging pod for the Bold works perfectly, with the added convenience of just dropping it into the pod, plus the screen dims making it a perfect bedside companion.

-App World: It might not seem like much, but this is a pivotal point for RIM, where the Blackberry is no longer just seen as the email-only device.

-Today Plus: Plazmic (the Blackberry theme-builder) started supporting TodayPlus in version 4.6 last September. TodayPlus is the layout that allows you to see your upcoming appointments (and messages preview) right from your homescreen. To me, this could have been a deal-breaker!

-Custom LED: The incessant flashing LED was driving me a bit nuts when I first got my Bold. I was grateful to have the notifications from 3rd party apps (which is something I never had on WM) but I longed for an easy way to figure out without turning on my Bold what was causing them. BerryBuzz came to the rescue, with the latest version 2.0 able to give me custom color LEDs for Facebook and BBMessenger. Now I have Emails flashing blue, SMS-Orange, Facebook-white, Beejive-Purple, BerryWeather- Green, and SocialScope stays with the default red.

-QuickLaunch: one of my initial peeves about the layout of the Blackberry OS was that the clock was not visible from all screens. As a solution, I mapped one of my convenience keys to the clock and was opening the clock app whenever I needed to take a quick look at the time. Now, with QuickLaunch, I don't have to open the fullscreen clock to see the time. And by mapping it to convenience key, I get the added functionality of a neat shortcut launcher.

With the release of the Tour and word of the upcoming Storm2, it seems like this is the best time to be in the Blackberry ecosystem. Things are happening, and RIM is quickly transforming the reputation of the Blackberry from a business device to a life one.

Cloud Living

noreply@blogger.com (LuluGirl) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 07:00:00 PDT

When I look at how I used technology the last time I was working (circa 2006) compared to now, its a totally different way of operating. Back then I had my Treo (or Blackjack, etc) and I would sync with my work PC each day- a one-way sync, if I remember correctly- and then I'd get home at the end of the day and sync again with Outlook on my home PC. Daily syncs were a huge part of my process and was also the way I got my iSilo off-line data to read on the subway.

Fast forward 3 years, and these days I'm lucky if I even get into our home office 2 days in the week. We have a shared laptop in the den, and both Dean and I use that more than our desktop PCs upstairs. I also have my HP Mini in the bedroom which I use with some frequency, especially if we are watching a movie or something upstairs. Syncing is becoming more and more of a luxury that I can barely afford. In fact, one of my largest gripes with my iPod Touch is that its not able to update my podcasts automatically. I'm grateful that it can use my wifi to do it without connecting to my PC, but I really wish it could all happen behind the scenes. But because I add a new movie to my iPod every few days, I'm forced to go to my desktop anyway, so this isn't a major deal. However, while I can comfortably leave my iPod in the home office overnight while it syncs, I absolutely can't fathom not having my Blackberry in my hand at every moment.

The concept of cloud computing appealed to me from the perspective of being able to have my information available on any platform, without me needing to do any extra steps to get it there. This is probably one of the main reasons why the Nokia N800 did not fit well in my lifestyle- even then I realized that it 'needed' too much from me. I've had a Gmail account for some 5 years now, and its only in recent months that I've really delved into the other Google services, and now that I have, I find that I am totally sold on the lifestyle.

My calendar and contacts are synced from my Blackberry Bold to Google using GoogleSync. I liked the calendar so much that when I started working out 2 months or so ago, I began logging the details of my workout on my Blackberry calendar so they would carry-over (here's a tip: preface each entry with 'workout' and you can easily search your calendar and get a list of all your aerobic activity!). I installed Google Calendar Sync on my work PC and after setting up a one-way sync, it pushes all my work calendar data to Outlook (useful tip: use a separate email for the work sync and then share that calendar to your main Google Account. This lets you label it and keeps it separately identifiable). On my iPod Touch I use CalenGoo which shows me my Google calendars.

For tasks, I decided to use Remember the Milk which also integrates with the Google Calendar desktop. It has a robust iPod Touch client as well, so I am able to access my data from there too. It doesn't integrate with Outlook (as far as I know) but that's fine. For the most part, I use my work tasks for things I need to do today. Everything else goes on my calendar: this is a habit formed out of necessity as well- the Blackberry homescreen only shows calendar entries, so if I want it to come across clearly with no chance of my forgetting- that's the best place for it.

For notes, I use Evernote. In fact, lately I seem to be finding more uses everyday for Evernote- I forward copies of important emails to my Evernote address, I email chat transcripts from Beejive IM, and I even use it as 'sticky notes' to remind of what bills I need to pay in the next pay period. I've even got Evernote set up to connect to my Twitter account, so that I can forward interesting data right to my notebook. After a much-anticipated wait, Evernote finally released a Blackberry client. Although its strength currently lies in note creation, I am optimistic that it won't be long before it follows the progression of the Windows Mobile version.

For my use, Cloud computing has to be more than just a web portal to my information- it needs to seamlessly integrate with my mobile device as well. After all, isn't the whole point of having your data in a cloud the convenience of having access to it anywhere?

Visiting the old (WM) Neighborhood

noreply@blogger.com (LuluGirl) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:26:00 PDT

In the 5+ months that I've been using my Blackberry Bold, I've hardly even given much thought to Windows Mobile and what I've been missing. Sure, every now and then I'll hear about a new application, and wonder if its changing the WM game, but not really enough to cause me any longing. I've also got an inherited Jasjar in my possession, so every now and then I can pull it out if I really have a hankering to test out an app. Unfortunately, as its running WM5, most of the latest and greatest just won't run on it.
Yesterday I decided to borrow Dean's Ubiquio to take a look specifically at the new Facebook app and the latest Windows Mobile Twitter application, Twikini. The first thing that struck me was how small the screen seemed after using the Bold for a few months, and how poor the 320x240 resolution appeared after getting accustomed to 480x320. Now I know for a fact that I won't be able to go back to QVGA....ever....I think. Since my husband doesn't have a data plan on his phone, I turned on the Wifi to download and run the apps. As someone used to running WiFi on my phone all the time now, I was shocked to see how an hour of WiFi drained his battery almost 30%!
I downloaded the Facebook application and I have to say, its really nice and polished. There was an initial lag, but I think that had to do with downloading the information from Facebook. Navigation was easy and it seems like an application I'd probably get a lot of use from if I was on Windows Mobile.

Next up I installed Twikini which I'd recently heard quite a lot of positive noise about. It does seem to be much faster than PockeTwit, but without its suaveness. I think for a phone with less screen real estate, Twikini probably makes more sense. Although- I haven't tried any of the recent builds of PockeTwit, so that impression could be entirely outdated at this point. I also like the ability to chose between various color schemes, although it would be even better if I could build my own color scheme from the ground up.
After experimenting with both apps I decided to email my screenshots from his mail application using Gmail and ran into a roadblock. For some reason I kept getting kicked back to the prompt to enter the password for the email account. Because the Blackberry mail setup experience is so seamless and transparent to the user, I had no idea what the issue could be. In the end I decided to pop the MicroSD card into the computer and transfer my photos that way.
As I tinkered with the Ubiquio, I realized there are a few things I miss from my WM days. I miss being able to completely backup and restore from the device. I miss the thrill of endless discovery of quality free apps. I miss glossy icons customized via iLauncher. But on the whole I am quite convinced that I am on the platform that works the best for my needs, and happy with my choice.

Kindle 2 Price Drop

noreply@blogger.com (LuluGirl) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:00:00 PDT

The Kindle 2 has dropped in price from $359 to $299, and all things considered, I think that's probably the sweet spot for a lot of people interested in getting one.
To put it in perspective- you can now get a Kindle2 and an iPhone 3G for just under $400! Add Whispersync to that equation, and it only gets better.
I've been reading books on my phones since the days of the Treo 600, so this really isn't for me, but if you're a heavy reader, and travel often, then this is a good time to pick one up!

Off-Grid Pre Guy Goes Diva?

noreply@blogger.com (LuluGirl) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:40:00 PDT

Earlier this evening I came upon this thread in the PreCentral Forums that troubled me on many different levels:

So here is my most recent story. After my Off-Grid with the Palm Pre went a bit viral, and after I posted a positive battery review today, I contacted Sprint today to talk to them about the fact that my elegant and dainty wife smashed her Samsung Highnote in the van door.

I had contacted Sprint a week ago fearing such a thing and asked if I could get insurance on her phone and they told me "no" since I was past the thirty days. I understand (I have insurance on the Pre).

So, wifey puts the phone down in the van hatch and slams the door down on it. Our fault completely, I understand.

So I call Sprint for a little "what can we do?" talk, and they said... NOTHING. $150 is the cheapest phone, you will pay full retail, any questions?

I said, "you know, maybe you can help me out... get me a cheap $50 phone (what I paid for the Highnote originally) or something?". NOPE. Full price bucko, and we never heard of Salty Off-Grid. So I say, "Fine, I think I will just cancel and maybe go elsewhere". Fine they say, Call Customer Service to cancel. I thought I was talking to customer service, but I am informed I am talking to some International Service center. So then I get Juan Carlos at Sprint Customer service. He is very understanding, but tells me if I will pay the full smack for the $150 phone, he can rebate me back something like $90 or so. And I'll have to pay full bill up front. Now I am just kind of pissed because I have really put some time and effort into trying to help the Pre (which I totally believe in) succeed. So I said, "You know, no. I think I'll just go ahead and cancel. I'll write a new review entitled "Palm hits a home run but gets strangled and raped by Sprint rounding third". So he says he'll talk to his manager and forwards me to the manager who is not in the office.

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the ranch... Palm twitters me and offers to try to make things right (YAY PALM). Still waiting to hear. Frankly Sprint ought to give me a big bushel basket of Palm Pre's to hand out to neighbors and friends for all I've done for them.

Maybe we can start an online protest and Jesse Jackson them into helping a fella out. Sprint hates me because I have a big beard. Beardism. That is it.

What is wrong with these people?

Michael Bunker (Salty Off-Grid)

A number of things about this post rubbed me the wrong way. First of all, how many people have written favorably about the Pre and don't expect any kind of preferential treatment because of it? Here are the facts as I understand them:

1. His wife broke her Samsung Sprint phone
2. He called Sprint and was informed he had no insurance, and wasn't eligible for upgrade
3. He opted to cancel both of their service because he couldn't get a cheap phone.
4. He decided to post about it on a forum and made some out-of-left references to being raped and Jesse Jackson.

In the course of the thread, a few more tidbits of information are revealed. First of all, while Michael vehemently claims that he wasn't looking for special treatment, and just wanted to cancel his account, his Twitter account clearly shows him reaching out to Palm (which he also denied, claiming that they contacted him).
Now, if you wonder why this kind of thing gets under my skin, its because it creates the kind of powderkeg situations that led to the Leo Laporte-Michael Arrington dust-up that occurred last month. And I'm not the only one who has a problem with things like this- the FTC now has bloggers in their sights because of exactly this type of behavior.
As much as Michael may say that he didn't expect anything from Sprint or Palm, clearly he did. Why didn't he reach out to Samsung, the makers of his wife's damaged phone? Because he fully expected to cash in on the positive things he had written about Palm and Sprint. And the next time Michael has something to write about the maker of his truck for example, I hope he isn't surprised when we look for what payola he's looking for next.

Palm Pre Homescreen

noreply@blogger.com (LuluGirl) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:13:00 PDT

It looks like the Palm Pre is finally getting a much needed homescreen view thanks to the hard work of one developer known on the Precentral forums as Mapara. This is a huge win for the Pre, as currently viewing information can only be done by leaving the relevant cards open. To have even a single card that can pull all this information in is a fantastic improvement.

If you have a Pre, I highly recommend you check this out and get in on the Alpha. And if you do use it, and like it, be sure to send the developer a donation as a thanks for all his hard work. Opening the door to these kinds of apps means that it won't be long before more developers look at how they can improve the entire ecosystem of WebOS. And who knows, maybe one of them will finally build a Facebook app so that we can all stop snickering each time the accurately named 'Under My Skin' commercial runs.

Google Voice

noreply@blogger.com (LuluGirl) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:22:00 PDT

Today I had a nice surprise in my inbox: I got an invite for Google Voice! To be honest, I don't even remember when I signed up for it, I'm sure its been many, many months!
I haven't reallly been following the full capability of Google Voice (since I didn't imagine I'd ever have a chance to use it) but I remember Dave Ciccone (mobilitytoday.com) mentioning on a podcast that he had Google Voice (or GrandCentral) ringing all his various phones that he was testing. With that in mind I decided to see if I could find a useful way to use GrandCentral.
Surprisingly, the thing I've found most useful is the SMS function in Google Voice. On the desktop it has a nice threaded chat view and backs up the conversation. It took me a while to figure out but once someone sends a text to your Google Voice number, it also comes to your cell phone with a mask return number which will allow you to reply without exposing your cell phone number. Once I sent texts to all my friends telling them I had a new number most replied and I was able to add the mask return number to their address book entry. (I'm hoping that the number is always the same and not dynamically assigned for each day/week/month).
I also figured I could ditch YouMail by forwarding my Blackberry to Google Voice. I did it by forwarding calls when there is no answer; my cell rings the bounces the call to Google Voice (which somehow doesn't ring my cell again) then to the voicemail. Excellent!
If you haven't signed up for Google Voice, I highly recommend it. I'm sure that after checking it out you'll be able to come up with your own use. For me, its a way to have more of my life in the cloud.

Sent via BlackBerry Bold

Wireless Charging Bold-Style

noreply@blogger.com (LuluGirl) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:33:00 PDT

The feature of the Palm Pre that immediately piques my interest was the wireless charging via the Touchstone. And even when my husband pointed out that it was the same technology from his decade old electric toothbrush, I was still in awe. However, in my brief time with the Pre I didn't get the Touchstone but I did read some of the concerns in the PreCentral forums: overheating, etc.
That's when I realized that my Blackberry Bold had been doing a form of wireless charging for the many months I've had it. The charging pod lets you drop your Bold into it and charge via the contacts on the side of the phone. And at $15 a pop with no special battery cover needed I can afford to have one just about everywhere!

Sent via BlackBerry Bold

Seduced by Sense

noreply@blogger.com (LuluGirl) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:18:00 PDT

When I saw the HTC Hero I had the same reaction I have to all the other 'black slab' phones I see popping up all over the place: meh. Then I took a harder look at the HTC Sense UI that the device featured and it made me think long and hard about how I'm using my Bold these days. You see, the memory on the Bold is small, so generally you settle on a handful of apps and that's it. For me, that list includes the twitter app SocialScope, Facebook, Viigo newsreader, Poynt, Woman Mobile, and Ascendo Money. On Windows Mobile I thought nothing of loading dozens of apps regardless of whether or not I ever actually used them. These days I don't really even miss apps I don't have.

So, imagine if the few apps I do use were running in a widget format that I could flip through Palm Pre card-style. And instead of having the (annoying) ribbon notifications on the bottom of the screen, you had the android toolbar with its minimalistic approach.

If an device like this came to market with the body of the Blackberry Bold (which has the best keyboard I've ever experienced-beating even the Asus EEE PC in my opinion) I would probably scoop it up in a heartbeat. I enjoy using the Bold and it does what I need it to do very well but it just doesn't bring a lot of finesse or eyecandy to the table. My iPod Touch on the other hand is a lot of eye-candy but definitely not enough substance to convince me to go the iPhone route.

I hope I see a QWERTY-bar version of the HTC Hero in the near future. It could just be exactly what I need to satisfy all my senses.

Sent via BlackBerry Bold

Sometimes, a Sim is All You Need

noreply@blogger.com (LuluGirl) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:09:00 PDT

Something odd happened to my phone on Monday. About halfway through the day I realized that I hadn't received any emails on my Bold. I tried surfing the web and I couldn't do that either, but I could make calls and send texts. I assumed something was off with my BIS but I couldn't find anyone else with the same issue anywhere online.
I decided to call AT&T to see if they could help with the issue. The first guy ran me through a number of tests and then decided it was a RIM problem- he transferred me through to RIM where I spoke with another rep who ran me through more tests and then said he needed to send me over to tech support. This guy finally determined that the issue must be with my sim card. I was skeptical about that since I could still make and receive calls, but at this point I was desperate enough to try anything.
After work I popped into my local AT&T store to pick up the sim card. I had my first pleasant surprise when the sales guy looked at my phone and asked which model of Blackberry it was. I told him it was a Bold and he asked how come it was all sleek and black. I explained to him that I had put a custom bezel on it and he asked about where I got it from and how hard it was to put it on. I love any opportunity to geek out with someone else so I was happy to oblige.
I got the sim card (free- which was a change from the $25 I had to pay a few years ago for a replacement) and put it in my phone. Imagine my surprise when I finally got notice that my service books had been pushed to my phone. I got all my messages that I hadn't received all day and all seems to be well. In a way its not a huge shock, since I've had my sim card since I got my Treo 650 back in 2005 (I think) but on the other hand I thought that once a sim was shot all services would fail to work.
Either way, I'm glad to be up and running again, and that the fix was something simple and free.

Sent via BlackBerry Bold

PrizeFight: Pre vs iPhone

noreply@blogger.com (LuluGirl) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:11:00 PDT

I was watching this CNET Prizefight and all I could think was thank goodness there was no Blackberry included for the startup test! These days my Bold takes about 2 minutes to get up and running....but this poor guy has to wait a whopping half hour!

Obsessed with Power

noreply@blogger.com (LuluGirl) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:48:00 PDT

Confession time: I have this spreadsheet, that I've been basically maintaining since last summer. I use it to track my battery life on my various devices, factoring in any number of variants that I feel might affect battery performance. Looking at it now, I'm almost embarrased at how obsessive compulsive it seems to be. But I am happy at the data I've compiled over time. How does your smartphone stack up?

SS=Socialscope, vid= 30 minutes video, 1800 mah battery measured before and after conditioning.

Could You Talk for 16K Minutes in a Month?

noreply@blogger.com (LuluGirl) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:04:00 PDT

Richard G is one big talker. He managed to chat up some 16,000 minutes on his cell phone in a single month. More disturbing? That's not his highest month of use.
I did the math, and that averages out to about 8 hours a day....everyday! Unless I was dialed in to a radio station that was playing music to my speakerphone all day, I can't even imagine what I would be discussing for this length of time. He's not a telemarketer, so we can eliminate that, but honestly, with 8 hours a day on the phone, I can imagine that Richard has to be single. After 8 hours on the phone at work, I'd need absolute, total silence once I got home!
I don't think my highest monthly use has ever exceeded the 2 or 3 hour mark- what's your record?

Touchstone Sale on Amazon

noreply@blogger.com (LuluGirl) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 13:34:00 PDT

If you are on the fence about getting a Touchstone for your Palm Pre,
this might help you decide. Amazon has a sale now lowering the price
to $42 from $70!
http://www.amazon.com/Palm-3456WW-Touchstone-Kit/dp/B002CMEIWU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=wireless&qid=1245529794&sr=1-3

Tech Hand-Me-Downs

noreply@blogger.com (LuluGirl) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 04:38:00 PDT

Any time I upgrade to a new piece of tech I ask Dean if he's interested in the old one before I put it on eBay. When I moved to the iPod Touch, I really didn't want to sell my old Zune, so I was happy when he expressed an interest in it.
When I gave it to him, I loaded it up with a few episodes of the Car Talk podcast. After his first day with the Zune he came home thrilled and wanted more podcasts as he felt it gave him a welcome change from his music. He found the Zune Marketplace easy to navigate and before long he had added a large number of podcasts with varying topics.
Since he had already wired both of our cars with audio cables, he can now just pop the cable into his Zune and listen to his shows during his commute. I also had the Altec Lansing speakers so he's got a sweet speaker setup for his Zune.
Its nice to see him getting good use out of his Zune, and even my old Ubiquio 503G. He a hardcore smartphone user, but he does use his tasks quite regularly to remind himself of things, and he takes snapshots here and there. He's a heavy texter and really appreciates they keyboard on the Ubiquio, vs the TMobile SDA that he had inherited previously. Its always much nicer to have your favorite gadgets still in your home, even if its under new ownership.

TouchCloset- My 'Clueless' Dream Come True

noreply@blogger.com (LuluGirl) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:00:00 PDT

Remember a few months ago when I talked about searching for the perfect virtual closet? As it turned out- there's an app for that. My solution using iSort was getting a bit old, and I was tired of only being able to manage my list via my iPod Touch, so I went back to the drawing board again. This time I found TouchCloset: a free, fantastic, closet managing software that has a real-time sync with its web version. You need the iPod Touch to create your account, and add items to your closet initially, but once that legwork is done, you can use the website to edit your entries, or make notes.

I found it a little annoying that you couldn't add or view last worn date via the web, and I hope thats soon fixed, but for now I can just use the notes field to keep that info accessible on both platforms. One really nice thing for me is that I've already done the hard part of taking photos of all my pieces, now I just need to pull those images into the application.

12 Bugs Woot has found in iPhone OS 3.0

noreply@blogger.com (LuluGirl) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 06:02:00 PDT

According to the Woot! blog, the following have not been fixed in OS 3.0:

1. Multimedia messaging does not support sculpture, macrame, or interpretive dance.
2. Voice memo recordings totally don't sound like me. I don't sound like that, do I? Seriously?
3. Turned on adult content filter but everybody in my videos still has their clothes on.
4. Adding a task to calendar did not result in task getting done.
5. Clicked this blue "compass" icon but kept getting some stupid web browser.
6. Still no apps to cure the nagging feeling that I should've bought a Palm Pre.
7. The touchscreen is now on the back of the phone instead of the front.
8. Gone to the bathroom four times already today, and Remote Wipe hasn't worked once.
9. Spotlight search crashed with memory overload error trying to index my Harry Potter cosplay photo collection.
10. Tried out tethering, but I think I broke my finger smacking that phone around the pole.
11. Apple still hasn't fixed the no-hardware-keyboard bug.
12. "Cut" function does not apply to monthly AT&T bill.

Thanks for the chuckle guys!

iPhone OS 3.0 Live!

noreply@blogger.com (LuluGirl) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:37:00 PDT

I can assure you I know exactly what I will be doing this evening when I get home: picking up OS 3.0! I've never done an iPod upgrade, but this one will definitely have me doing it because it seems chock full of the exact things I've been waiting to get, which for me are:

Stereo Bluetooth:
Every evening I workout on my stationary bike and it takes the very last gasp of juice for my Blackberry to pump out my tunes over my S9 Bluetooth headset. I've been waiting to delegate this task to my iPod Touch so that I can finally declare it my total multimedia device.

Song Scrubbing:
Every once in a while I hear something in a podcast and realize that I missed the beginning of the sentence and/or discussion. Trying to go back a few minutes is the bain of my existence, and anything that promises to make this process easier for me is a plus in my books.

YouTube Account Management:
The idea of being able to keep track of the videos I watch on my iPod seems useful. Sometimes you want to send a message to the composer, or leave a comment, and now I'll be able to do at least the latter.

Landscape Keyboard:
Oh, sweet cramp release! I have never mastered the art of the iPeck, and I'm glad that I won't have to. The Evernote client is fantastic on the iPod touch, and now I'll actually be able to add notes to it!

Cut/Copy/Paste:
I'm not going to beat a dead horse on this one. Enough said.

Google Calendar Sync
Although I already purchased CalenGoo, I am glad to have this natively. Plus, CalenGoo is sooooo slow!

Note sync in iTunes
I will admit, I've generally abandoned the note client on my desktop and Blackberry, opting instead to just use Evernote. But again, its nice to have the option.

Of course, for those who have an iPhone, there are tons more features that you are probably looking forward to, like MMS, tethering, voice recording, et al. Enjoy, and let me know how your update goes.

The Pre incident.

noreply@blogger.com (LuluGirl) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:46:00 PDT

From: Eric Hyland
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:28:27 -0500
To: <snipped>
Subject: The Pre incident.

Hi Lulu,
I had a very odd experience buying my Palm Pre Saturday and I think you'll be very interested in hearing about it.

I called the Western Center Radio Shack 6/12 and asked if they had a Palm Pre available. There was apparently one on 'reserve' and I was told if the guy didn't pick it up by 7PM, they'd sell it to me. Well 7:00 comes and goes. Then, on Saturday morning, they call me around 10:00 to 10:30, saying they have located a Pre, and ask if I was still interested. I was, so I drive over and purchase it.

On closer inspection at home, I find some odd things. First of all, beneath the factory cellophane (used to protect the screen), I find another clear screen cover with adhesive. More on that in a second.

After removing the cellophane and the additional clear cover, I see something wrong with the screen on the lower right. It looked like the screen was 'bubbling.' I had thought it was simply the adhesive, but it was, in fact, under the glass (Please see attached photos 1 & 2).

I knew then that I had to take it back. But before I did, I decided to explore a bit more. I opened up Pandora, and instead of asking me to sign in or create an account, it just started playing music. That's odd. When I tapped on the button on the upper left, an account was already logged in (see attached photos 3&4)!

WTF?

The account name was <snipped> (sound familiar?). I did a google search on that, and the first result was your twitter page. And wouldn't I know it. You had tweeted about returning a defective Palm Pre not 6 hours before!

Now I see that Radio Shack had neglected to remove the the clear cover you had most likely placed on it, and just put the cellophane film over it.

When I confronted the manager about being sold a repackaged Pre, he said there was no way that was possible. Even after showing him that an odd account was already logged into Pandora, he denied it.

The good news is they did replace my Palm Pre. However, the bad news, in a totaly separate independent issue, is that the ear piece on the new one doesn't work.

To Radio Shack's credit, they are replacing this one as well and they are having Sprint waive my activation fee. However there should be no excuse for reselling a returned phone.

From your Twitter page I found your blog. If you'd like, feel free to post these pictures and my story. This could make a good "buyer beware" story on digg.com or consumerist.com or something.

Let me know and I'll keep you up to date on any farther developments.

Best,

Eric

Running iPod / iPhone OS on Mac Pro

noreply@blogger.com (LuluGirl) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 06:30:00 PDT

I thought this was pretty impressive: of course, your arms need to be really fit to be doing this for any length of time. With Android and WebOS rumored as being ported to mobile platforms, could the iPhone OS be next?

Farewell, Sweet Pre....

noreply@blogger.com (LuluGirl) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 15:23:00 PDT

Last week was a busy one, and not just because I was rocking 5 mobile devices (hey-o!). There was a good amount of controlled chaos at work, and on the homefront I bought a stationary bike and have been making a dedicated effort to ride each morning and evening.
As the week came to an end, I knew I had to take the Palm Pre back. First of all, I'm not staying with Sprint- if for no other reason that there is no simultaneous voice and data. I also learnt a fairly unpleasant lesson the hard way: the first call you make is redirected to the Sprint call center where you have to listen to a 7 minute spiel from a rep summarizing the terms of service. No one mentioned this detail to me, and since I was driving, lost, when I reached for the Pre since it was the phone I could find-I was not a happy camper.
The Pre itself was a mixed bag- after the initial euphoria wore off, I found I didn't even go to it as a secondary device all that much. I'd check the App Catalog to see what new apps were listed but even that was more an exercise in frustration. The Evernote app was the most exciting thing to me, but it was glitchy and wouldn't compose notes in offline mode. There were odd nuances to the Twitter clients that I couldn't completely figure out. They each had some sort of notification- but no easy way to quickly check @replies. Build quality and design could use some work. While the Pre felt really nice when closed in the hand, using it required 2 hands and my full attention.
On Friday evening I prepared the phone for return by doing a hard reset and repackaging everything and that was when I noticed I was missing something-the receipt. I broke out in a cold sweat- I know RadioShack tends to stand pretty hard behind their no receipt, no return policy. Ordinarily, this wouldn't be a big deal- throwing it on eBay would probably get me to even- but with the 'crumple' in the screen that it had when I bought it, my listing would definitely be less than desirable. I could hardly sleep on Friday night- I worried if they would accept the return, and then I worried if I could at least get an exchange for an unscathed screen if they wouldn't take it.
After a fitful night of no sleep, on Saturday morning I bundled Seth into the car as soon as the store was due to open, said a prayer, and headed out. When we got to the store, I had my first panic moment- the salesperson who greeted me was not one I recognized from the prior week. Then, behind the counter I spotted one of the two guys who had been in the store the previous Saturday. We had all shared a lot of laughs, banter, and joking about the (non-existent) lines for the Pre- this had to go well, right? Wrong. As soon as I stated that I was there to return the phone, I needed a sweater to shield me from the icy frost he emitted. "What's the problem?" he barked at me in a stern, accusatory voice.
Long story short: he accepted the return, and (I think) credited my card back. (So far I haven't seen the reversal show up on my account, but I'm sure its processing). He also called and cancelled my Sprint account and confirmed with them that I had returned the phone. Now I'll have to wait and see what my Sprint pro-rated amount will be for one week...a $70 monthly plan breaks up as $17 a week, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
You would think that the saga ends here, but its not for nothing we call it a saga. I got home and tweeted my relief at having a successful outcome and got a message from a Twitter user who asked if I had returned my Pre to a particular RadioShack in my neighborhood. Uh-oh, this was probably the salesman from RadioShack about to chastize me, right? Not so- it turns out that this man had been resold the very same Pre that I had returned not 4 hours earlier! And how did he know it was the same one? Because it had the same screen "crumple" that I noticed on it when I first got it and he read about it right here on the site! What a small world of tech it is!
Which brings me to the end of my Pre drama/saga. I think I'll be interested in seeing the next generation/iteration of the WebOS when the App Catalog is more mature and the design is more thoughtfully laid out. Till then.... Ciao Pre!

Podcast! Mobigasmic 005

noreply@blogger.com (LuluGirl) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:37:00 PDT

Today's Podcast Highlights:

-My First 48 Hours with the Palm Pre
-Reaction to WWDC iPhone announcements
-iPod Touch usage and applications
-Nokia E75
-Blackberry Bold update

*I referred to this as Podcast #4 but actually its #5. You can catch up on previous podcasts here.

Pre-Conceived Notions

noreply@blogger.com (LuluGirl) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 07:35:00 PDT

Its certainly been an interesting few days with the Pre. And honestly, if I was coming from Windows Mobile I suspect I would have taken to it like a fish to water. But, the truth is that my whole way of computing has changed since I moved to Blackberry- I want to do everything one handed, I want to do everything without interacting with my screen, and I want to have a keyboard that invites me to type my heart out. The Pre, unfortunately, does none of these things. It has a lot of eye-candy, some real innovation, and logic that just cannot be denied- but at the end of the day, I was bored.
According to "ILoveBlackberry" I spend an average of 3 hours a day on my Bold. Most of that time is spent on SocialScope, catching up on Twitter and Facebook. I spend a considerable amount of time on Viigo reading news articles and lately checking out Friendfeed. Its a fantastic combination of hardware and software- I have a small group of heavily used applications that are my go-to heavy-hitters and are enhanced by the fantastic keyboard that is exposed and always ready for quick entry. Another surprising discovery I made about myself is that my lifestyle is better suited for a non-touchscreen device. I frequently have my hands full with my purse, a diaper bag, my son's small, squirmy hand, and my phone. Having the Bold, I can grab hold of it anywhere, and not have to worry about what I might be activating. With a touchscreen phone, I constantly need to check and make sure its off and not ringing and that I haven't accidentally answered the phone.
The other thing I really very heavily on is being able to tell, just by looking at it, what's going on with my phone. I installed BerryBuzz months ago and this intelligent software flashes my LED light a different color for different notifications. I've never liked using sounds on my phone, because I inevitably forget to turn them off at the most inopportune moments. However, with this I can tell from a flashing green LED that there is some kind of weather advisory happening, blue that I have a new email, purple that someone is trying to IM me, and orange for a text message. Because the Pre has no notifications until you turn the device on (as do a large number of Windows Mobile phones and the iPhone), you really rely on the audio cues to know what's happening.
So, while I find the Pre to be a much-needed shot of adrenaline the market needs right now, I am looking forward to its next iteration, the Eos, to see what they get right in that device.

Blackberry Facebook 1.6

noreply@blogger.com (LuluGirl) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 07:50:00 PDT

In all the hoopla of the Palm Pre yesterday I forgot to mention that the Blackberry Facebook client received a pretty significant upgrade. The newest version has just about all the features of the website with the exceptions of chat and video uploading/viewing. I've always felt like the most lacking feature in 1.5 and lower versions was the ability to view the newsfeed and I'm happy to report that this version gives that function. I think the 1.6 is now actually an improvement over the iPhone version since you can get all your notifications in the background, and have more interaction from within the app once its opened.
While I'm excited about the newsfeed function, a lot of people will be thrilled to see the photo album viewing. Finally you are no longer dumped to the browser for every photo you want to view!
If you have a Blackberry and use Facebook you should definitely upgrade to 1.6- you can get it from App World, or check for upgrade in the options of 1.5.

Sent via BlackBerry Bold