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March 14, 2009
Changes coming to Web presence...
Visit my business blog for details. March 13, 2009
I hope that Apple releases a Tablet Notebook...
And if they do, I will be first in line to buy one... Future Plans Interesting Open Letter... Much more on my Business Blog March 12, 2009
Kindle for the iPhone is great!
In fact, it is so damned good that I have probably blown about $200 in the last few days of using it. This despite the fact that I have a backlog of must reads that will take me the better part of the next six months to finish. There are some very nice titles available. Here is a sample of my reading list. Pro Blogger - Chris GarrettYes, the screen is a bit small, yes the platform is limited... For example I can not download Magazines and Newspapers. But its cool. Add the Kindle capabilities to my Audible account, and I am good to go on reading material. Which is a good thing, since finding English Language books in Costa Rica can be a challenge. I gave up my iPhone a couple weeks back and moved to a Blackberry, but I bought a 32 GB iPod Touch while in Guatemala back in November of last year, so I am all good. Love the Touch. More on my Business Blog February 06, 2009
Uhhhhh.....
April 22, 2008
Lifesaver application...
Pulling your hair out trying to get your Outlook information into Mac OS X? I got the solution for you! April 21, 2008
Skype takes a step closer to FREE global calling
Read my professional blog for more info. April 20, 2008
Yeah its official....
I am addicted. I can not lie...
Okay I am having a tech orgy this weekend....
Yesterday I picked up my new toy to add to my MacBook Pro.
Yeah, with a sexy Macbook Pro, I should be blogging more...
Its called making money folks. The reason you dont hear from me too often these days is because I am usually jetting off to some exotic country to build a new call center. Wish I had more time for this... Hell, even my Mugus are getting antsy... More on my business blog April 15, 2008
I am not going to lie....
I am loving the hell out of my new Macbook Pro! April 06, 2008
Sick of Windows! Tmie to Switch!
A couple of weeks ago, my high end Dell notebook crashed, resulting in a complete format. It was my fault. I am not going to go into the ugly details, but I will say that it was the sad conclusion of months of struggling with Windows Vista. I liked much about Vista, and in fact this piece is being written on my HP Tablet PC, but the driver issues, constant security warnings, etc, just made working a chore.
Well, thanks to a client, I am making the switch guiltlessly. Thanks to all my friends on Linkedin... By the way, are you on Linked in yet?! More on my business blog March 01, 2008
James is Geeky as Hell!
But damn his my "brutha from anotha mutha," when it it comes to his love for and enthusiasm for tech! JK on the Run has become a daily read for me! Cross Posted to my Business Blog The future of email
is here and it is called Xobni! Read the blog: So a cool Google alert came across my inbox today. Xobni has been featured in a Newsweek story titled “Reinventing the Inbox.” We did an interview with Chris Flavelle a few weeks back on the innovation that is beginning to take place in the ancient internet communication application - email. Chris did an awesome job describing the recent innovation led by companies like Yahoo and us here at Xobni. And beg, borrow or steal an invite. This is going to be a very power full addition to my communications arsenal.... More on my business blog. February 17, 2008
Hotmail on an iPhone!
I don't remember where, but I read an article the other day on how to use a workaround with Gmail to get Hotmail on my iPhone. I played around with it, but it seems that you need a paid Hotmail email account to utilize this method. While I dont use Hotmail that much, I do every now and then get an important email from that account. So I set about finding a way to do it... More on my Business Blog February 16, 2008
Speaking of Phones...
Adventures in iPhoning...
See what happens when yours truly experiences his worst nightmare... The new Everex Cloudbook blows aparently...
I dont think I will be buying one... January 30, 2008
Want a Macbook Air?
You might want to reconsider, or not... January 29, 2008
Some Cool Gmail Tips
I use Gmail as my backup email archive, and as my "Junk" email box. I found the some great tips, via a post on Palm Addicts today. More on my business Blog. January 26, 2008
Hillarous!
The person who thought this up should be in Hollywood.... As soon as they end that pesky strike. January 25, 2008
I want...
This guy's job! January 23, 2008
Would you....
Networking
I have been into the social networking thing almost since it started, but have never gotten much benefit from it. The weakness of social network sites is that despite the fact that there are a few biggies like facebook, friendster, etc. You can never be sure where the contacts YOU want to network will be. And if you are like me, you hate getting invitations from people inviting you to yet ANOTHER social network. For these reasons and others, I have more or less avoided investing too much time in Social Networking sites. After all, my personal blog, brings me at least one of two clients a year, and until recently, the Social Networking sites really did not show me any benefit. I recently noticed that almost everyone I know in business uses Linkedin. While I have been on Linkedin for a couple of years, I really have seen very little return from it. Well, I have discovered the secret. You have got to tend your network like a garden. I have spent the last couple of weeks exploring linked in, and getting to know the different features. One of the coolest features for me is the ability to ask a question of your network or the extended network. I have gotten some excellent advice using this feature. Another great feature is the ability to recommend people, or to ask others to recommend you. Its kind of like having a living reference page for you life and career. I have been spending some time the last couple of days writing recommendations for all those in my network whom I respect and have cause to give an attaboy! It has been a fun experience for me, and bought back some lovely memories. Anyway, if you are interested in finding out more about David Anderson, please join me on Linked in.
January 09, 2008
Why not, they stole the GUI for Windows!
"Windows Mobile 7 will dramatically change the way we use mobile devices. It will emphasize the use of touch on the device, as well as motion gestures created by using the device. It is, absolutely, Microsoft’s effort to beat back the iPhone, and the iPhone is referenced several times in the document." Though I have serious doubts that they will overcome the iPhone. What Redmond never seems to figure out is that it is not the functionality that sells. Cause lets face it, out of the box, the iPhone is the prettiest crippled smart phone I have ever seen... OUT of the BOX.... But then most of us don't use it like.... OUT OF THE BOX! Most people who buy an apple device do so as much for the COOL factor, as they do for functionality. Oh sure, the Mac's usability is Legendary, and the iPod was ahead of its time, but the bottom line is, its about style. I own a Blackberry Curve, a Treo 680 and a Motorola z Series. All good phones. The Treo 680 is my sentimental favorite. I have been part of the Palm world for a long, long time, and my investment in Palm Software is more than the value of the phone. When I am traveling, the Blackberry, (Where it is supported), is the MONSTER. I left my Treo at home when in Nicaragua for example, and the Blackberry MORE than filled the gap. Nevertheless, I got an iPhone. WHY? Because it was just too damned cool to NOT have. When I returned to Costa Rica for Christmas break, I started using the iPhone, and a few weeks ago I hacked it. Its still not a Treo, but it is now infinitely more usable.Its a portable OSX Mac in the palm of my hand. Yeah it still lacks a lot. No document editing is probably my biggest complaint. And it does not make sending attachments, even those you manage to shoehorn onto the phone, easy. But I trade all that for the looks of envy I get from people when I whip it out. Now if Microsoft can manage to shrink VISTA down (Without the bugs and headaches), and put it on a smart phone that looks as good as the iPhone, they may have a shot, otherwise, Apple will continue to lead, especially if the rumors about 16gb versions with full support for OSX prove to be true. Intel the Grinch?
I have been excited about OLPC from the first day I heard about it. It is just the type of project that I, as a technologist, have always advocated and wanted to see come to reality. OLPC is the type of project that could make a huge difference in a developing country like Costa Rica, or any of the other developing countries around the world. I have said for years that if I could just manage to feed my family and take care of my own personal responsibilities in the process, that I would run away and just work to help the children of the developing world to make it a better place. It seems like OLPC is trying to do just that. I heard about Intel bowing out about a week ago, and today I read this... In mid-December, in the hip, Frank Gehry-designed IAC (IACI) building in New York, Intel (INTC) held a small gathering for a dozen or so journalists to preview the corporation's planned showcase at this week's 2008 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Curiously missing: any mention of a much-anticipated, low-cost laptop, called the XO, for children in developing countries, featuring an Intel microprocessor, with hardware designed by the Santa Clara (Calif.)-based nonprofit, One Laptop Per Child (OLPC). The company had been planning to launch it at CES. Its a shame that corportate and personal egos have come into play, damaging this project. It would seem to me that Intel, Microsoft and others could give away these things and still make a huge profit. PERHAPS this is an opportunity for AMD to step in? Crossposted to my Business Blog January 03, 2008
iPhone Applications continue to innovate
You know, when I first got my iphone, I thought, okay, this is pure "i"candy, and to be honest, I was not all that impressed and even a bit miffed that Apple had shipped a phone this expensive, with a locked down interface... I have to admit now, Apple's move may have been brilliant as it has forced some of the coolest innovation I have ever seen. MV demo (Go to this link via your iphone), is simply HOT! iPod 1.1.3 Firmware is real
And these guys have the scoop. The only thing that gets me excited about this firmware release is the whole Bookmarks on your home screen thing... That is kind of cool, the rest of the stuff, I already have it with my Jailbroke phone. December 29, 2007
The iPhone Rocks
If you own an iPHone, and have an internet connection, point your iPhone's Safari browser to this location. Believe me, you will NOT regret it. What does it do? 1. Jailbreaks iPhone/iPod Touch on 1.1.1 This is a standard iPhone Screen
But lets forget about the sexy look. It is the functionality.for the first time, I dont even carry my Treo Anymore. My iPhone has an advanced web browser, IMAP email support, threaded SMS, voice note recording, a ToDo list (Surprisingly, the iPhone did not come with one out of the box), and a wealth of OSX utilities, including a wifi stumbler application, which my Treo does not have, since it does not have wifi. It even has a web based skype application.
The coolest thing about the jailbroke iPhone is that the phone finally achieves some critical functionality to go with the flash.... It is unbelievable that this phone does not ship with an MMS program, or a video or voice recorder... The application Installer application has programs for most of the missing functionality... I still find it disappointing that there is no Native Yahoo Messenger Application, or Word Processing and Spreadsheet Application on the phone... There are a variety of web based applications that attempt to fill this void. For example, Mundu... The same people who power my always on IM application on my Palm Treo, have an excellent Web Based application for the iPhone...
Zoho, also has a great web based interface for their online spreadsheet, word processor and Presentation program. One of the coolest way to discover the world of web apps for the iPhone is to check out AppMarks... A virtual desktop application that has links to a wealth of iPhone Web Applications.. My iPhone has went from being a pretty toy, to being a pretty effective tool, just by doing a little tweaking. There is one thing which still makes me nervous. There is no way to backup and restore the iphone, with all of the customizations. I have spent hours getting my phone JUST right, and dread the day that a crash could force me to have to restore it. December 22, 2007
Damn!
When are we going to get Video Chat in Costa Rica? December 21, 2007
I have been looking...
For a good, innexpensive PC to give to my wife for email and browsing. This looks like it could be just the ticket.
Intel Mobile CPU / 512MB / 2GB flash drive / 802.11b/g / 10/100 LAN / Memory Card Reader / Intel UMA graphics / Linux operating system / 2lbs # Play, relax, and entertain on the go with shock-proof design. At 7" and weighing only 2lbs, you can take the Eee PC anywhere. Bumps and shocks are no longer issues. With a dependable solid-state disk, you get unparalleled shock-protection and reliability. Power-efficient design provides longer operating time when on the go. With a rapid start-up time that takes only 15secs to boot, the Eee PC is always ready to get into action. No technical manual required with the specially designed, User-friendly and intuitive graphic interface. You're always connected with built-in WiFi 802.11 b/g that automatically detects and connects to the Internet at any hotspot. The Eee PC includes the documents and the e-mails software, and a suite of other Productivity software to help keep you on track. Upload photos and videos and share them instantly on Flickr or YouTube without waiting till you get home. Enjoy Music and videos with extensive support for a wide range of Digital multimedia. Log on to Skype or other network, and you can connect with friends anywhere, anytime. Clear up wire clutter with the built-in speakers, and microphone. Since it's so easy to use and durable this makes a perfect gift for children, elderly or as a second lightweight notebook. 7" WVGA (800x480) TFT Display December 18, 2007
In Seven Days...
I am going to be SOOOOOOO into this! No, I have not opened the XBox 3609 yet... My iPhone
Every since I got my iPhone, I have been grousing about its obvious limitations. I still carry my Palm Treo 680 as my primary communication and life organizations tool. I read about how people had Jail Broke their phones and installed applications on the phone.
Having invested $500 in the thing, I was not about to risk, "bricking," the phone, or relocking it, by playing a bunch of Unix tricks... Well today I discovered these folks... Visit the site with your iPhone or iPod Touch Safari Browser, follow the instructions and BAM, you have a whole new platform. and a REAL Smartphone, instead of a fancy iPod with a phone strapped to it. I now have the power of BSD Unix at my finger tips, and a suite of applications comparable to my Treo 680, though not "quite," there yet. I now have a real ToDo application. A voice Recorder, an editable calendar, and a bunch of other cool little applications. The thing is just about ready to replace my Treo 680 as my primary organizer. I still wont be able to sync ToDo's, and the calendar is limited compared to Palm and Agendus, but I will play with it for a few days and see what happens. September 04, 2007
You had to...
know this was coming, especially after this... and this. As many of you are aware, we are in the process of building our next generation software platform. We are very excited about how this is coming together. It has a modern flexible UI, instant performance, and an incredibly simple and elegant development environment. We are working hard on this platform and on the first smartphone that will take advantage of it. Can you say.... Reality Check? I think Jeff Hawkins was the only one who ever REALLY believed in the Foleo. It is true, that many of us wanted one, if for nothing else, just to have the latest and
No doubt that the "Fooleo" was destined to be the biggest bomb in Palm History, and yet Palm seemed to be sticking behind it, even confirming as late as a week or so ago that the Foleo was still on schedule to ship for "summer." It certainly makes one wonder if the recent investment of venture capital had something to do with this decision. Palm has been notoriously hard headed and arrogant about listening to their customers, perhaps the new venture capitalist saw the writing on the wall... who knows. Now one is forced to ponder if Palm is really turning over a new leaf, or simply acknowledging another disastrous product decision? August 27, 2007
The day the dialtone died...
I was in Honduras last week when the great Skype outtage happened.... In the hotel I was staying at I got some weird error messages every time I tried to use skype, which I often do while traveling. I just figured that it was a case of the Hotel blocking Skype, to force clients to use the more expensive long distance services provided by the hotel... "Say you have a crucial conference call in an hour and your phone goes dead. What do you do? A generation ago, this wasn't much of an issue, at least in the U.S. Phones in the days of the Bell monopoly were In an age where many call centers are going to hosted VOIP Systems in the United States, I frequently warn my clients that all it takes is one major outtage at their service provider, or on the internet in general, to put them out of business. I have prepaid cell phone lines in Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Honduras, as those are all places I travel to frequently. While I used Skype daily, and have a pretty sophisticated plug in system, the Skype outtage was more of an irritant than a show stopper for me. I simply moved back to my cell phone as my primary method of communicating internationally. Skype and other online messaging systems, Yahoo is my second favorite, can be wonderful tools for business and pleasure, but no one should base their business on a tool that is Free or near Free. I danced for a while with Google's hosting services, loved the intergration... hated the integration.... Those of you who have tried it will know what I mean... I ended up switching back to my old hosting plan. Well, I have a conference call in the morning with a client in Canada and a provider in Nicaragua, (you guessed it... on Skype) so it is good night for now... August 26, 2007
Talk is Cheap
"It's no secret that a company can claim the love of its customers and succeed in the market once it is able to meet the needs of these customers - a tenet which may help explain Palm's fall from grace this past year. I'll be the first to admit that we can be a rather demanding lot and inevitably Palm will not be able to meet every need all the time. Having said this however there are some pretty basic things that we not only desire but have also now come to demand given the increasingly more attractive competitive offerings from the likes of RIM, Apple, Motorola, HTC and even Nokia. Palm has unfortunately provided us with a rather unimpressive lineup (think Foleo and Palm Centro) and Treonauts everywhere have grown increasingly restless and frustrated with the company's inability to deliver the future Treo smartphone that they really want - one with meaningful new hardware, software, content and service innovations. Overall we have tried to be polite and diplomatic about this but it obviously has not had the desired effect. It may thus now be time for this community to take a considerably harsher, critical and increasingly more active role to push Palm in the right direction." The Engadget article was not the first to address the failings of Palm. In fact many articles and editorials have been written over the last couple of years. Each release of the Palm version of the Treo has been greeted with outrage for Palm's failing to include Wifi, sufficient memory and a stable OS. Many of the Palm sites have done a poor job of pushing or challenging Palm, instead serving as Palm Cheerleaders. While this has bought them access and free Palm Goodies, it has not served the needs of the community at large. One of my favorite Palm blogs is Palm Discovery, who had a great wrap up this morning. Looks like Ed Colligan, the CEO of Palm has provided a short reply on the official Palm blog here I am glad to see one of the best of the Palm Sites actually challenging the Palm Dogma. Some of the others who have depended on Palm for "Bling," and special treatment over the last couple of years, are losing credibility in their silence. The Palm Centro, pictured above, is supposed to be the next release by Palm, like the Foleo before it, it is decidedly "underwhelming." Its time for Palm to start doing more than talk... Their relevance is slipping away. Crossposted to Business Blog August 24, 2007
My latest toy!
I picked up the tx1232la, which ended up a finalist for best ultralight notebook in Latin America, from PC World. The tx1000, which is the parent model for the 1232, recieved a pretty good review from CNET HP is one of the first vendors to announce a laptop specifically built to run Windows Vista, and somewhat surprisingly, its initial offering is a convertible tablet. Unlike other tablets, such as the Lenovo ThinkPad X60, which are aimed primarily at business users, the HP Pavilion tx1000us targets the more average consumer. HP refers to it as an entertainment notebook, and the system includes media control buttons, dual headphone jacks, a touch screen that works with any stylus or your fingertip, and a new, high-gloss finish--all of which add to its consumer-friendly vibe. The $1,299 base price Pavilion tx1000us (our review unit cost $1,720) isn't set to ship until February 28, which is disappointing, and the AMD Turion 64 X2 processor wouldn't be our first choice, but in terms of performance and features, our first experience with a Windows Vista laptop has been a positive one. I have not found any real lack of features in the version of Vista that ships with the unit. In all honesty, my biggest challenge is in using Vista in Spanish. Something I am not accusstomed to doing. While I speak and read Spanish fine, it is a bit challenging to use a computer with everything in Spanish. I only started playing with it last night, so I still dont have the complete hang for it. But I can tell you that it has great battery life, and comes with a trunkload of goodies. hp-pavilion-tx1232la-entertainment-pc.pdf While I absolutely adore my Dell Precision M65 for its raw processing power and well, "precision," Carrying it through airports is no fun. I am looking forward to spending the next couple of months working a project in Nicaragua, with a computer that is small, light and powerful. Crossposted to my business blog August 22, 2007
Tech Lust
is just NAUGHTY beyond belief. I dont think I could run through airports carrying 18 pounds, and I think this thing would be hell on an overhead bin or impossible to fit on a tray table, but DAYUM!
Originally posted to Business Blog August 03, 2007
Solution to Lifedrive Synch woes under Windows Vista....
![]() This article from Palm Addicts is invaluable in helping those of us with Lifedrives to sync our units. Despite Palms recommendation I downloaded the new beta version of Palm Desktop, I Tried to sync but.... I Got a nasty Soft Reset (I'm use to it, I own a Life Drive), tried again and the same... well i tweak a little and discover that Addit Sync causes the soft reset so I turned off (configure applications in Palm Desktop) then the Syncing process continued but it freezes doing backup... so I turned off too. Read my commentary on my Business Blog July 30, 2007
Upgrading my Palm Applications
Palm quietly released an update to their Java Virtual Machine today. I downloaded the upgrade and then reinstalled the Gmail client and latest version of Opera Mini. After a few minutes of weaking the Java settings, I was able to get Opera Mini running just fine. (Something I have had problems with before.) The other major accomplishment today was installing the new Vista compliant version of the Palm Desktop software. This was a major step for me... 1. I used a Palm Lifedrive in addition to my Treo 680, and the Lifedrive is not on the new Desktop Software's compatibility List. Nevertheless, after following the upgrade thread on Palm InfoCenter for the last few days, I decided that thebenefits outweighed the risk, and I went for it. After uninstalling the old version of the desktop, I installed the new version, and other than the fact that I had to manually change the default synchronization from Palm Desktop to Outlook, the system worked flawlessly. I tried to sync my Lifedrive as well, but about halfway through the process, the Lifedrive did a reset, I can not be sure as to whether this reset was caused by the Palm or the New Desktop. I will be experimenting with it over the next couple of days to see if we can get the Lifedrive to work. It is a beta and you need to keep that in mind on installing. Obviously I am pretty cutting edge when it comes to my applications. If you don't mind risking your data and sanity, I recommend taking the step. The update is well worth the effort in speed and additional flexibility for those of us running Vista. Then again, anyone crazy enough to make the move to Vista under version 1,should have no problem risking this move as well. Crossposted to my Business Blog This is a very interesting development...
Dell is one of those companies that can change a market... Tablet PC's have been niche products for a long time, this announcement could potentially change that... July 25, 2007
Palm Blows it again!
Palm has finally released a beta version of the Palm Desktop software for Windows Vista users. Emphasis mine.... How Palm could have even allowed themselves to fall behind enough that their desktop was not ready in time for Vistas launch. is staggering.... The fact that they would now launch a version that does not support their most expensive PDA product, is ridiculous.... July 21, 2007
Who needs an iPhone...
When you have a 4GB Treo 680. A real Smartphone with all the same features of the iPhone. Not to mention tens of thousands of programs, a REAL Qwerty keyboard, and full compatibility with Microsoft Office Applications... Not to mention the fact that you can actually use this phone anywhere in the world.... Well except for Japan. I am still having a few problems with getting the Treo to consistently use the SDHC 4GB card. But it recognizes the card and will read and write to it. I have only used a fraction of the capacity of my 2GB card, so the 4GB card is more of a test subject at the moment. I am sure that I will discover the secret to getting more consistent performance from the HDSC Card. I have recently cleaned my Treo of a bunch of older programs that I was not using. I have had offers to use other smartphone classs products, but stay with my Treo despite some quirks in the platform. The ability to utilize the high capacity SD cards adds a whole new dimension to a powerful product. I find myself leaving my Palm Lifedrive at home more and more, as the additional capacity allows me to carry more files and entertainment on the Treo. Once I am able to use 4GB card with more consistency, I will likely utilize the Treo as a mobile version of my Desktop Documents folder. That is... Unless Palm releases Before I can get this thing to work right... Hehe Crossposted to Business Blog Windows Vista Upgrade
I upgraded my Notebook's hard disk to 120GB yesterday and decided to take the opportunity to do some housecleaning and an upgrade of the OS as well. I did the in place upgrade of Windows XP to Windows Vista Business, using a Dell upgrade Disk. The process was long, but flawless. In about two and a half hours I had upgraded the system, refreshed drivers and was off and running. There were a few scary moments, like when it did not seem to recognize the capabilities of my Dell Precision M65's Graphics Card. The M65 is a workstation class machine, desighned to show off the capabilities of a robust OS like Vista. One of my clients, who recently aquired a new notebook with Vista Pre-installed, warned me against the upgrade. He told me his notebook was slow using the new OS. I have found nothing but the contrary. The M65 seems MUCH faster than my old XP install, so much so that I am impressed. This probably has to do with the fast Nvidia Quadro FX 350 Graphics card while at the Entry level of the QFX Line, is robust enough to run Vista's graphics engine at a healthy clip. The two gigabytes of system memory is probably the most significan factor of my systems performance. The other concern I had was about syncronizing my Palm under Vista. Since Palm still does not have a Vista Certified desktop, this was a big concern. I was not able to sync using USB, but using Bluetooth, my sync went fine. And I have to admit, I am pretty content at this point. Did I mention the fact that I recently upgraded my Treo 680 to use 4GB of SD Memory?
June 17, 2007
A trip down memory lane...
There was a great article on Palm Addicts yesterday about the great Psion series of handheld computers.; The Psion Series 7 brings back many fond memories for me. Ten years ago I chose to purchase a Psion Sienna instead of a Palm Pilot. The Sienna was a clamshell device with powerful software (PIM, Spreadsheet, and word processor) and a tiny, difficult to use keyboard. I didn't pick the Palm Pilot because I was reluctant to learn Grafitti and the included software was not as sophisticated as what was offered in the Sienna. Later, after the Sienna broke, I again chose Psion over Palm, this time a Psion Series 5. This little computer was a marvel. Its operating system, EPOC, was the most stable I ever used. I could actually touch type on its keyboard. The included office software was even more sophisticated than what was on my Sienna. I still miss Agenda, Psion's daily planner program. The Series 5 was too big to fit in my pants pocket, so I carried it everywhere in a waist pack. (Yes, this proves I have no sense of style). During this time I would see people pull out their Palms and talk about how wonderful these gadgets were. I couldn't fathom why so many people were enamored over Palms. I thought the software was primitive and the beeping, chirping alarms were tacky. Psion's EPOC operating system was so much more powerful and sophisticated than Palm's. I still felt this way when I broke my Series 5, so I purchased a Series 5mx, an improved version of the Series 5.
I was fortunate enough to find a classic Psion Series 3a, on eBay a couple of weeks ago. Now with my obvious hoard of technology and especially mobile computer devices, I hardly needed another one... This was one I c ould not pass up though, as the mint condition 3a cost me all of $20. The thing comes with a whopping 512K of memory, yea thats K, not Megabytes... Hehe, and a serial cable. Despite the fact that it has a built in voice recorder, I dont even have enough memory in the thing to record a 2 second voice memo. To be honest, I did not buy the Psion to replace my Palm devices, rather as a nice conversation piece to place on my desk and show my Tech Cred! I actually had several Psion devices during the day when they were the executives choice for handheld agenda's, and I am still amazed at how well the technology holds up. Use any of the built in application, and you will be amazed at their robustness AND ease of use, a full 14 years after the 3a was introduced. The 3a is a bit large compared to the tech I carry today, and I cant imagine carrying one around in my pants pocket, but 15 minutes of using one of these will make you wonder... WHY arent these still being made? Crossposted to my Business Blog May 30, 2007
Gotta have it....
And I can promise you, I will be the first in Costa Rica to have one... Nuff Said... April 29, 2007
Why Cafta is Super Important to Costa Rica's Future
In the last two weeks, two important events have occurred that are linked to the future of investment, and expecially the Call Center Industry in Costa Rica.
The Referendum was a sign of failure on the part of Oscar Arias, the Costa Rican President to get the TLC through the legislature. Massive street demonstrations, led by the ICE Union and other Unionist were giving the legislators cold feet, and TLC opponents renewed hopes for defeating the treaty. The Massive Power failure and fiasco that has followed has now put ICE on the defensive, and caused many who supported them and their anti Free Market Stance, to rethink their feelings. You dont realize how badly a monopoly sucks until it fails spectacularly. The arrogance that followed the failure:
Were more reason to erode ICE support among the population. If the TLC fails, Costa Rica will be left with an aging monopoly that once led the region in every statistic that counts, but which is now finding itself behind in technology, (ICE just approved GPRS Internet, and has NO prepaid Cellular Service), availability of services, (New GSM Phone Lines will not be available until August of this year), innovation, and redundancy.... The Country will also be the only one in the REGION without competition in the Telephony Marketplace, or for that matter, any part of the public sector. Costa Rica has failed miserably to take advantage of the lead they had when I established the first call center in Central America in 1994. While other countries have invested in Infrastructure, opened up their telecommunications markets and focused on developing strong English Language Bases of Employees. Costa Rica has arrogantly held on to a reputation that they no longer deserve. Visit any other capital in the region, and you will feel the progressive Energy. In Guatemala, millions are being invested into creating Call Center friendly parks and infrastructure. In Honduras, companies like Karims are working closely with the Honduran Government to define a new industry. CAFTA is an important key to the future of Costa Rica. Without it, Costa Rica may see itself losing more and more of its key technology businesses, to other, more aggressive and progressive neighbors. In the Utopia Group, we are looking at the REGION as our opportunity, Costa Rica just does not seem as promising as it once was. Crossposted to my Business Blog April 28, 2007
A week with my new Treo
![]() Well I am starting week two of my use of the Treo 680, and think I am in a pretty good position to provide some insight on the phone, and my experience with the upgrade. PROS Simply put, the people at Mobihand have mad an almost intolerable situation with Software Registrations, (Moving my Registered Software from the Treo 650 to the 680), a manageable one. Some of the codes I could not find, others failed to work. The people at Mobihand personally contacted the developers to get me help. This kind of customer service today is extraordinary, and should be applauded. There was a time when I purchased all of my Palm Software via PalmGear, today Mobihand is my partner of choice. CONS Lastly let me say this... to all those developers out there who make it hard to register your software, especially if you need to re-register. You have lost a customer. Mobile High Speed is one of the worst. I will never spend another dime on their products. They treat their customers like thieves... Many others like Davtaviz, the makers of Documents to go, and Iambic of Agendus fame, go out of their way to milk their customers for every dime, one of the reasons that their software is so often pirated. .. Anyway, I am really enjoying my Treo 680, problems asside, it is a very nice piece of hardware that adds nicely to my "Tech Cred. " And thanks again to David and his team at Mobihand. Crossposted to my Business Blog April 23, 2007
Why Palm JUST DOESNT GET IT!
Hi Jeff
For the most part this blog is about Palm Doing what they do best... Shoving a bunch of Marketing crap down your throat, all the while smiling as they ignore customer complaints! Not once in this HUGE comment thread, do the Palm people bother to respond. I love my Palms, could not do without them, but I am not some driveling Nerd with a pocket protector and Palm Rules tattooed on my arm. Living in Central America, I pay MUCH more than my colleagues in America or Europe do for my tech gear. I also have to deal with the MAGNIFICENT incompetence and stupidity of the local phone company. So I bleed just a BIT more than my fellow Palm Aficionados when it comes to supporting the platform. I think Palm is due for a fall pretty soon. There are only so may slaps in the face that most of us are going to take. The Lifedrive, that resets as often as it works. Need I go on? No, they dont get it. They have rode the franchise into the ground. And the signs are pointing to even the most loyal fans getting fed up... Hey Palm Bloggers, time to answer your comments... My latest eBay Find
Can you say, "David is going to be carrying a movie library with him when he travels? hehe
Reason number 2007 why Costa Ricans are crazy if they do not vote for CAFTA /TLC
My Conversation with ICE (The Phone Monopoly in Costa Rica), this morning: Me: Hi, I am calling to get the configuration for GPRS Internet for my phone. I have already submited the request and documentation. I just need the configuration. ICE: What is the Software Version number for your phone? Me: 1.04-ROW ICE: We dont support that version. Me: Sir, the version of software you have on your website, 1.00/4099-RC, is old. It is not even an official version, it is a Release Candidate.... Beta Software! ICE: I understand Sir, but if we authorize the activation of Internet on a phone that is not on the list, it could bring down the WHOLE system! This is where I almost spit my coffee into my keyboard! Me: That is impossible. In fact I was already using the phone during the beta period of Internet access, with NO problems. I just want to get the official connection now. ICE: (He now knows that I am not going for the bullshit.) Eh, Our superiors will not allow us to configure a phone that does not have the version of software on our list! Me: Look, all I need is for you to turn on Internet for my number. I dont need you to configure anything.... ICE: (Frustrated now) I can not do it.
Oh and one more thing on ICE.... I saw in the newspaper today that we will NOT be having the rolling blackouts that they announced at the end of last week.
Mobihand ROCKS!
Well my Treo 680 is now loaded with a variety of great software. I had a few problems moving some of the software to the new phone... For some reason some of it just would not register, despite the same Hotsync name. Then along came David from MobiHand, where I bought most of the software. This afternoon, David has helped me to get new reg codes for all of my software that would not register. Now that is what I call customer service. Thanks David! Need Software for your Palm? I highly recommend these guys. April 21, 2007
Treo Nation
Oh and I am not going to go through the whole nerdy opening the box ritual on my new Treo 680. Suffice it to say, I am in the middle of a techno frenzy over here. I loaded it up clean instead of restoring a backup, and other than some mobihand applications refusing to register on the new hardware, and the idiots at ICE not being able to configure it for internet, all is well with the world. April 19, 2007
Tomorrow is Treo Day!
ARRIVAL OF MERCHANDISE AT JETBOX OFFICE Eh... that would be the arrival of this....
Which very shortly thereafter, will be wrapped in this....
Now my wife is giving me shit, becuase I ordered two cases as soon as I confirmed my Treo purchase. This Krussel Case is my "dress case," the one that will go with the business suit. The other is an Innopocket Metal Case, My designated "jeans and shorts," case, or the one I will use most of the time. I normally have at least three cases for any of my high end electronic goodies. I have never paid much more than $20 for a brand name case, and the investment is well worth it, when it comes to protecting my device. With any luck, I will recieve both cases and the Treo with tomorrow's pick up. April 15, 2007
Okay, I know I just got the Moto...
So the phone cost me about $75. I of course loaded up on accessories including an extra battery, cradle with extra battery compartment, and a hard and soft case. I should get the Treo tomorrow. Now I am keeping my fingers crossed that the unit comes without any of the first generation problems and with the last set of patches applied... Have I changed my mind about my Motorola RIZR Z3? No.... It is still a very sexy and capable phone. One of the things that bothers me about it though, is its terrible signal. You can go from 5 bars to out of coverage, without even moving the phone. I have also found that my Lifedrive will fail to connect using the phone's bluetooth connection at times, making my mobile email and browsing experience less than ideal. But to be honest.... The goal has been and will be, to eventually get to a ONE DEVICE setup. With the 64mb of memory in the Treo and a large memory card, I may just be able to replace the Lifedrive... That is my eventual goal. At any rate, by Wednesday at the latest, I will know... I will probably recieve the Treo on Monday or Tuesday, (It arrived at my Miami Forwarding Address on Friday). Then its charging the battery and SLOWLY loading my applications, to ensure compatibility. Then I need to get my internet connection set up. The national phone company has finaly left their GPRS Beta behind and are now formally offering Internet services. Despite the fact that I have been using the ICE GPRS internet connection for almost five years as a Beta Tester, I will have to go to my local office and "activate," the internet. I will load up my Mundu Chat application, and chattermail and I will be back in business with my mobile office. I have a full backup of my Treo 650, but I think that rather than restoring the backup, I am going to do a clean install of my applications, and limit them to a few basics. Agendus Premier We'll see how it all shapes up after I load up a few essentials.
April 11, 2007
Palm Blog
April 10, 2007
I think giving up cigarettes was easier...
I have to give this guy props for lasting as long as he did... April 09, 2007
Yeah...
March 12, 2007
Downgrade?
My new phone, the Moto RIZR Z3. I have decided to go smalll and light again, and this phone has some pretty sweet sex appeal to it. Have already figured out how to configure it to browse and download my email...
It also has a built in flash, for those night shots (wink). I chose the Rizr over a couple of other models because I really liked the slider design.
So, is it a downgrade? Compared to the utility of the Treo 650 it probably is, but since I still carried two devices,. my Treo 650 and my Lifedrive.... I am finding myself traveling a lot lighter these days by dropping the Treo for the lighter RIZR... February 13, 2007
ALP is ready... or so it seems...
The ACCESS Linux Platform is ready! Setting a New Standard The ACCESS Linux Platform sets a new standard for mobile Linux device platforms. Using Linux technology, the worldwide standard for open source solutions, the ACCESS Linux Platform combines the best open source technologies—carefully evaluated and optimized by ACCESS—with new ACCESS developed Linux components and ACCESS proprietary components. As integrated by ACCESS, these components make up the ACCESS Linux Platform, a solution designed to provide a complete, open source-based mobile platform. The flexibility of the ACCESS Linux Platform means customization is possible as it hasn't been possible before, giving handset and converged device providers and mobile operators the ability to create unique, branded mobile phone solutions for their customers. Question is... will it ever ship on a Palm Device? February 11, 2007
Upgrade time....
I have been looking to upgrade my aging IBM Thinkpad T-40, looked at Dell, HP and IBM again. I got a quote for the IBM Thinkpad T-60 that seems too good to pass up. The only problem is that I will have to go with a Spanish OS and keyboard, what do you think? This is one of the reasons.....
Apple will always remain a second tier player...
The legal hammer strikes unpredictably: that's the lesson to be learnt from the case of "iPod Monday," a weekly event at The Lift in Des Moines, Iowa where patrons bring brought along their iPods to play 15 minute playlists based around different themes. Unfortunately, the event's host and creator, Clint Curtis, is bringing the event to a close on its second anniversary (tomorrow) after receiving a cease and desist email from Apple. As the dispute is limited to Clint's use of the trademarked word "iPod," Clint could presumably have kept the event running under a different name. However, a quick read of his email correspondance with Apple reveals the reasoning for closing the event. January 18, 2007
(G)etting (T)hings (D)one
Every now and then, I come across a tool that just blows my mind. I have been looking at productivity tools for the last couple of months and have found some really cool applications. The biggest frustration for me, is that I seem to encounter a new one almost daily. The amount of online and offline software applications designed to enhance our productivity, is staggering. Applications like Active Collab, and Xdrive, have made the power of huge, and expensive collaboration suites from Oracle, Microsoft and others available to small to medium sized businesses at little or no cost. The days when one had to have an Exchange Server or Lotus Domino to provide collaboration to small teams, is over. I use Active Collab for one of my companies, and use XDrive to flie share. Google Apps for Your Domain, is another Exchange/Domino wannabe. I recently switched The Utopia Group's mail and messaging services to GAYD, I have been somewhat satisfied, but like most Google applications, GAYD shows more promise than reality. The mail portal is as bad as Gmail, (On which it is based), when it comes to reliability. (Ever had one of those "oops" messages in Gmail?) The point is, that the promise of software is catching up with us. For busy people like myself, we are always looking for the Holy Grail of Productivity solutions. I recently purchased a SanDisk U3 USB Memory Drive. The new U3 Technology enables you to carry vital productivity applications with you on the Drive, in effect making any computer you plug it into... your own. One of the applications that came bundled with the flash drive is Accomplice: Accomplice is a software application that helps busy professionals like you manage your to-dos, goals, and notes, then sync them with your team. This isn't some trivial to-do list, and it isn't an overweight project management suite. Accomplice has just the ingredients you really need to stay on top of your busy life, integrated into an intuitive and flexible system. It works online and offline, integrates with Outlook and other software you already use, and syncs with your PDA. Oh, by the way, it's free. Accomplice is one awesome piece of software. And it just about reaches Holy Grail status. 1. It plays nicely with Microsoft Outlook, without installing buggy plug ins to Outlook. What more can you ask for. Well take a look here, and tell me... This is a piece of software that has the potential to take my planning and organizing skills to another level, and is a new tool I can recommend to my clients. Crossposted to my Business Blog January 17, 2007
iPhone Update II
After seeing this video, I am not all that impressed. January 12, 2007
NEVER Order DirecTV in Costa Rica
You will regret it. In October of 2005, I was in Guatemala working on a Project, when my wife had DirecTV installed in our home in Heredia. It was a huge mistake. Any time it rains hard (something that happens frequently in Costa Rica), the signal is lost, sometimes for hours. There are no Network Channels (to speak of), from the U.S., which I rely on to keep me in touch with what's going on there. All irritants, considering I paid almost $70 a month for service. All of this I knew going into the contract. When we canceled the contract in December, we were promised a full refund of our deposit, as soon as they picked up the equipment. They picked it up on December 14th, and charged us for the entire month of December. Since that time we have been in a weekly battle with them to return the $85 they owe us for the deposit. Every week we call, and every week the answer is "next week." Yesterday, my wife called for the third time, and was informed that the paperwork for our refund had never even been submitted, despite the fact that she had confirmed it a month ago, and we had to FAX the disconnect order. Today I spoke with Andres Chaverry, who apologized and AGAIN promised the money for NEXT week. We have had DirecTV for over a year. Not once have we been late on payments. We have paid on more than one occasion for movies we did not order, we have constantly been bumped around by their horrible customer service, and my wife was tricked into signing a Year Long contract when we first signed up.... To be honest, we would have gotten rid of their service a long time ago if not for that. My advice to anyone considering subscription TV in Costa Rica, DO NOT get DirecTV. They have the worst service in the country, this coming from someone who KNOWS service! And if you do get their service, don't expect them to honor their contractual obligation to return your money at the end of the Contract! DO NOT ORDER SERVICE from DirectTV Costa Rica! January 11, 2007
Some more thoughts on the iPhone....
There is a lot of speculation going on right now about what the iPhone will or will not do, or is or isn't. After reviewing more information and the specs, I am not as excited as I was the day of the announcement. The lack of an SD slot for memory expansion and the non-changeable battery both have me concerned. I am also concerned about the lack of Office applications on the phone. All issues that may be addressed before the final product ships, or in future generations.... The Palm Addicts people have put up a fantastic new blog dedicated to the iPhone. There is a wealth of information there, including a link to this article, which brings us hope that the iPhone will be available outside the Cingular network. I still see this phone being a significant alternative to the Treo. I love Palm as much as any Palm Addict, but this is a time to put more pressure on Palm to innovate and provide better support, not to become Palm Apologist as many seem to be becoming. Palms skimpy memory and lack of Wifi are serious issues, but so is Palm Support, and the notoriously buggy products they have been releasing the last couple of years. The Palm Community is a big one. We have supported Palm through the Tungsten W, T5 and Lifedrive debacles, and continue to excuse their poorly tested products, becoming an army of Beta Testers.
Palm has time and time again gouged their customers with products that often delight, sometimes disappoint, but are almost always overpriced and under powered in some way. I found it ironic and somewhat hypocritical that many Palm fans are ripping the price of the iPhone at $599 for the 8GB model. This is interesting since the Lifedrive premiered at $500 two years ago and the Treo 750 is about the same price, at a fraction of the memory or features. While the Lifedrive can now be found as low as $300 on some sites, the word is out, it is a slow, buggy piece of hardware. (One that I mostly love), but still slow and buggy. The fact that the Treo 650 sold until very recently for $400 or more (Unlocked), and has a measly 24 megabytes of memory, and no Wifi, is a disgrace. The fact that the new Treo's dont offer Wifi is a further sign that Palm is out of touch with today's smart phone users. Palm has relied on third parties to provide basic functionality, that comes out of the box with the iPhone and other devices. Hobbyist Software saved the Treo 650 with it's innovative products that fixed glaring deficiencies in the Treo. Things like using MP3's as ringtones, providing adequate speaker volume and protecting preferences during frequent crashes, were all problems that Palm should have solved BEFORE shipping the product, instead companies like Hobbyist had to come along and provide "patches," for obvious FLAWS in the Treo 650. The Lifedrive has been such a pathetic case, that third parties and hackers have had to practically redesign the product. There is now a hack that will allow you to replace the SLOOOOOOW internal Microdrive in the Lifedrive, with a Flash Memory card, increasing speed, battery life and apparently stability. Palm could have included REAL memory 64MB or better, with the Lifedrive, included the built in Microdrive, and still made a profit selling the Lifedrive at $500. Instead they created a weird scheme whereas the Lifedrive used a partition on the Microdrive as memory, creating a slow, unstable device that again had to be "patched," by third parties like Ludastech to provide reasonable speed. There will be several months before we really see the impact of iPhone on Palm sales. In that time, I expect to see a lot of the questions about the iPhone cleared up. I have decided to go ahead an purchase a Treo 680. It is simply a clearer choice at the moment for my needs... But a massive shot has been fired across Palms bow. If they do not react, and react quicky, and if it turns out that the iPhone will equal Palm in terms of business applications, the lack of an SD Slot may just become a non-issue, and battery life may be addressed through Apple or third party products. If that happens, Palm will be in serious trouble... And no amount of spin on the part of Palm die hards will fix it. Whatever happens, I hope that Palm fans will finally start to demand more from Palm. More service, more stability in products, more innovation, and more competitive pricing. There is NO reason we should not be able to buy the Treo 680, unlocked, right now for $300. This may be the just the medicine we all need. January 09, 2007
Enter iPhone
![]() All I can say is OH MY GOD! This has moved RIGHT to the front of my MUST HAVE List! "We want to reinvent the phone. What's the killer app? The killer app is making calls! It's amazing how hard it is to make calls on most phones. We want to let you use contacts like never before -- sync your iPhone with your PC or mac. Visual voicemail -- wouldn't it be great if you didn't have to listen to five of them to list to the sixth? Just like email you can go directly to the voicemails that interest you. iPhone is a quad-band GSM + EDGE phone." No 3G! "We have WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0" "We have been very lucky to have brought a few revolutionary user interfaces to the market -- the mouse, the click wheel, and now Multi-Touch. Each has made possible a revolutionary product, the Mac, the iPod, and now the iPhone. We're going to build on top of that with software. Software on mobile phones is like baby-software. Today we're going to show you a software breakthrough. Software that's 5-years ahead of what's on any other phone." Huge cheers. "Why would we want to run such a sophisticated OS on a mobile device? It's got everything we need. Mulittasking, networking, power management, graphics, security, video, graphics, audio core animation..."
![]() Could this be the standard configuration? 8 Gigabytes of Memory? Makes sense since it uses OSX and will double as a Video ipod! Jesus this blows everything Palm Has, completely out of the water! What will it sell for?
While little details are available at the moment, if I am a Palm executive, I am sweating right now. Palm has dominated the Smartphone space for a few years now. While I have been drooling over the prospect of getting my hands on a Treo 680, that device, and the Treo 750, may be too little, too late. Palm has done poorly in recent years in listening to their customers. their NVFS file system has been a disaster, resulting in instability, and frequent crashes on their latest devices. Their Operating System is old and outdated, and has no multitasking. They have steadfastly refused to provide sufficient memory on their smartphone products. They are one of the few high end smartphone manufacturers that have refused to provide Wifi, or even wifi support...And perhaps more telling than anything, they suck when it comes to support. This new Apple Product, if it comes in at a reasonable price, (And I would pay close to a Grand for what I have seen so far), will DESTROY their high end market position. 1. It is ultra thin, and thus COOL. The ONLY question I have is with its size, what will the battery life be like? I am refreshing the Apple Site every few minutes to see if and when it will be available on the Apple site. If I can afford it, my Treo will soon be retired... January 06, 2007
When this hits the Market...
December 27, 2006
Get Spam under control!
I feel this guy's pain! December 26, 2006 (Computerworld) On Jan. 24, 2004, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates famously announced that by 2006, "spam will be solved." He was right. As I write this, 2006 is almost over and I've solved my spam problem. (Gates is still working on his.) As a matter of course I change my email address once a year. It takes about that long for Spammers to take control of my mailbox, and I have tried a number of solutions to resolve the problem.. Few have worked well for long... His system makes a lot of sense, and I will be giving it a try. It is a rather lengthy article, read the whole thing. December 23, 2006
Google Apps for your Domain - Tech Utopia?
Some people spend a lifetime looking for perfection. For athletes it is that perfect game, perfect race, whatever. For me, my passion lies towards achieving more and more productivity out of my life. Technology has been the key to my pursuit of the productivity Holy Grail, and we are fortunate to live in a time where technology is just exploding. As a result of my job, my blog and my advocacy of technology, I am always getting invited to beta test some software or technology tool. I was recently invited to test Google Apps for your Domain, another profoundly interesting innovation by Google, that more or less allows you to move most of your domain functionality to Google. Since I was already using various other Google services, including Gmail, Google Docs and Spreadsheets and Google Calendar and Google Talk, on a limited basis, I decided to take the jump and see if I like it. I moved The Utopia Group's email services to Google, and set up a portal for all of our team, as well as Google Talk. Changing the email settings was as simple as making some changes to the MX settings for my email servers. Then it was as simple as going to a Gmail like page to send and receive email. The email service is built on Gmail, with the same services, interface, pop and forwarding, search, etc. I then set up a personalized start page, that acts as a portal for all Utopia Associates. The page has a basic setup, and then can be customized by each associate.
Google is building a desktop, piece by piece. It is interesting, and must be a bit "scary for the folks in Redmond," to watch this happen. Most of the pieces are there already, but need some tuning. While it was a simple decision for me to move my email from The Utopia Group, over to Google's mail platform, I am nowhere near ready to use Google Docs and Spreadsheets as my primary office applications, and I also declined moving my hosting over to Google. The mail piece was a slam dunk. After a recent archiving of several thousand emails in Outlook 2003, and recent problems FINDING emails in Outlook, I decided that it is better to let Google index my emails. Not discounting the risk involved. (I will also use POP access to continue to download my email), but keeping the messages stored on Google should provide me with an additional level of security/backup and ease search as the emails again start to build up. There were a few moments of fear today as the email addresses did not seem to be working, but after a few hours (no doubt the time it took for the new server address to propagate across the internet), all seems to be working fine. One of the things I hope Google decides to do, is to add an Xdrive type service, that will allow me to store attachments online as well. I often have to send large documents, and each time I send one to a new addressee, I have to wait while it uploads. This could be solved by adding an Xdrive like function to existing accounts. I have grown quite tired of Microsoft applications, and have been experimenting for months with Linux and other ways to escape the Microsoft world. Open Office has provided a wonderful alternative to Microsoft Office. This new mail platform will allow me to mostly wean myself off of Outlook.
One of my biggest challenges in using Linux was the lack of a comparable to Outlook, sync client for my Palms on the Linux side. I found that Jpilot gave me the equivalent to the Palm Desktop, with about the same "ugly factor," as Palm Desktop. As a heavy Agendus user, I had just become too attached to my Agendus for Outlook plug-in. I will be the first to admit, my productivity probably suffers more for my eternal search for more, than anything else. The Get Things Done advocates, would probably say that I over complicate things way too much, and that organization is a fetish for me... They would probably be right on many levels. This move to Google Domain apps is another in a long series of moves designed to try and squeeze as much efficiency as I can from my professional life. As it stands, one of the problems technorati like myself face, is the overwhelming amount of GOOD technology. One of these days I am going to sit down for an afternoon and actually put together a technical strategy for myself and my companies... By the time I get to that stage, maybe Google will have created a decent synchronization tool for Google Calendar, and added tasks to it... They might also work out the bugs and deficiencies in Google Docs and Spreadsheets and added synchronization to those applications as well, and if they can throw in a couple of Gigs of Document Storage, and tie it all together... Well, you guessed it, they will have a solution worthy of a digital warrior like me... December 22, 2006
Iambic does it again...
Iambic Software, best known for their Agendus Organizer software, has been quite busy lately. The recent release of Your Call, won an instant place on my Treo, and has made me more productive. I heard about Propel today, and based on my experience with Iambic products, downloaded it immediately. I am a strong believer in supporting Software development, so I paid for a registration for Propel without giving it a second thought! Propel is the ultimate launcher for your Palm OS powered PDA or smartphone. If you have a Treo, try Propel and you'll be amazed at how snappy and straightforward launching applications, finding your contacts and keeping in touch will be. Once you start using it, you'll wonder how you ever did without it. I purchased a license for the Professional version. The $24.95 price tag is a bit expensive for a launcher, but considering the launcher also included voice launch capabilities, allowing me to eliminate the voice launch application I had previously installed from the Treo's memory, it is probably deserving of the price. It's a piece of version one software, and in places it shows... The voice launch application failed to work several times and reset the treo twice. The interface is a bit complicated (especially when coming from Launcher X, which it looks a lot like), and Iambic continues their poor tradition of launching software without documentation. They did however include some pretty good documentation as part of the installed application. What is amazing considering it's power, is that they managed to squeeze the documentation into the application, include voice support, and still produce an application with a smaller footprint than Launcher X. All of the Iambic products tend to get better with each incarnation. I am a very happy user of Agendus Premier, Your Call and now Propel. It is still a bit rough around the edges in some areas, and documentation is an absolute MUST. The views, while powerful, have me very confused, and I am what most would consider a power user. This needs to be documented better, and the default setup needs to be a bit more straight forward and robust. Iambic seems to be going after the Initiate market, rather than the Launcher X. Under normal circumstances, Iambic would have a huge advantage, with their large stable of software, and integration with Agendus. That may not be the case with Initiate, as Hobbyist Software has become known for being a Treo-Centric developer, with great utilities, and Initiate is a very stable product. We will see. I will stay on top of Propel, and give you my thoughts as Iambic releases updates... December 16, 2006
Palm Service needs improvement!
Palm's long-neglected help forums have quietly been taken offline. Palm has posted a brief statement that enhancements are forthcoming (namely, moderators and personal profiles) and to check back "In a few days". All I can say is it's about time... Palm's Support Sucks, and Brighthand and others have been the only option Palm owners had to get decent answers to problems... Without Brighthand, I would have tossed my Lifedrive out the window months ago. December 14, 2006
Ebay Deal of the Week!
I am always synced with all the latest documents and changes. The pocket drive is not much bigger than my wallet, has about 55GB of usable space, and connects with a USB 2.0 cable (No need for a power adapter). I paid about $50 for it, about the same as I would pay for a 4GB thumb drive from SanDisk. Instead of having to pick and choose what I carry with me. I now can carry my entire documents directory, AND have a reliable backup in case my computer fails. December 08, 2006
Unlock your Cell Phone...
Great Article on PC Magazine's website:
I have a friend and client, who is visiting Costa Rica right now. He purchased a Treo 650 from Cingular, at my suggestion. He is an international businessman who travels throughout Latin America. He called me yesterday to ask how to unlock his treo. He wants to get a local or prepaid SIM in all the countries he travels to. I understand that Cingular will give it's clients unlock codes if they request them. However, some Cellular users are not so lucky. This article should be a big help. Pocket Photo Printer
From Most Wanted: Portable photo printers are getting smaller all the time but few are quite as pocket-friendly as the Fujifilm Pivi MP-300. Now I can see a lot of uses for something like this. Tech gets more James Bond, every day, doesn't it? Upgrade or Not? Treo 650 to 680
For those of you considering upgrading your Treo 650 to the just released 680, this video from Treo Central may be of help. I have already decided to do the upgrade, its just a matter of time. This video does nothing to discourage me... December 07, 2006
The Palm OS Chronicles...
This is why I have NO confidence in Palm Corporate:
This is what... the third transaction involving the crown jewels? First there was the Palm Source spinoff, then Access and now back to Palm? December 06, 2006
Microsoft Office 2007 Woes!
Sometimes, Microsoft amazes even me...
And I admit to being very jaded when it comes to Microsoft... Microsoft says this about the new format:
Translation:
Some vendors in the mobile space, have already beat them to the punch. Dataviz, the folks who make Documents to Go, arguably the best handheld office suite on the market,
is charging a fee to purchasers of their new Version 9 software, for Office 2007 compatibility.... Before Office 2007 even ships, a fact that OUTRAGED buyers of the recent upgrade. Palm Infocenter explains it this way:
I just paid $50 for the upgrade to version 9, now I will have to shell out another $20 just to preserve compatibility. This is the way to lose customers. Dataviz has not announced if there will be other improvements in the next version of DTG, but unless they add support to Microsoft Office OneNote, I will not be buying the upgrade. In fact, the only thing that keeps me using Microsoft Office 2003, over the in many ways superior, (And Free) Open Office... Is that I paid for Microsoft Office.
Many vendors who provide add-ons for the office suite will have to make a decision on whether to upgrade their applications and applets, and what if anything to charge. I believe at this point that I will PASS. December 01, 2006
My Digital Companion or, "My Portable Brain"
It is far from perfect, but it get's the job done! The sweetest tool in my arsenal of business tools is my Lifedrive. I have owned many Palm handhelds over the years, and the Lifedrive is probably my favorite, despite it's faults. I think Palm's biggest mistake in designing the Lifedrive, was make it a Hard Drive memory based device. Think of it this way... You know how most Operating systems use a "Swap File," to provide virtual memory, when "real," physical memory runs low? Well the LD uses a 64MB partition on the built in 4GB hard drive as memory, in place of RAM. The result of this is a beautiful handheld with tons of storage, that has to spin up the hard drive every time you load a program or access data in "RAM." Can you imagine using a PC where there was no real memory, and everything literally ran from the hard disk? I believe you got the picture... It sucks. It also sucks that this particular memory scheme also makes the LD really flaky at times and causes innumerable resets, which are made worse by the fact that the Handheld must literally Reboot... Sometimes taking as long as 1.5 - 2 minutes to do so... Those are the downsides to the LD. Now, for the Upsides!
Yeah, the Lifedrive is far from perfect, but aside from carrying my notebook computer with me everywhere I go, the Lifedrive is my on the go digital enabler. Tomboy - The desktop Wiki!
Tomboy is a very cool piece of software.
I got Tomboy as part of the upgrade to my Ubuntu Linux desktop, and was excited about using it as a replacement for Microsoft OneNote on my Linux desktop. I was soon disappointed as it ran only once successfully under my KDE desktop environment. Afterward, it simply would not run. After switching back to gnome, I was able to set up Tomboy to work, and it is fantastic. The ability to create notes on the fly, and link them to other notes is fantastic. I have a master Project Note called "Projects," this note is then linked to other notes of the individual projects.
I can create a new linked note simply by clicking on the "link" icon in the Tomboy toolbar. I keep the projects note open all of the time on the desktop. As I create new projects, or need to review or add to an existing one, I simply click on this Master note, and take the appropriate action. Tomboy is always running in the Top Dock, waiting for me to click on it for a list of all available notes.
This is a very useful tool, and another reason why I am spending more and more time in Ubuntu and not windows. Since solving my Palm Sync problem not long ago, I find myself spending more and more time using Ubuntu Linux and less time in Windows. In fact, my next PC purchase will probably be 100% Linux. The only reason I continue to use Windows at this point is for certain banking and other practices that require a windows browser. My experience in Linux has been much more pleasant. It is faster, more attractive, secure and in many ways more intuitive. Installing some programs (those requiring a manual install), can still be a pain, but I am learning daily how to manage that process. Using Linux is initially not the most user friendly experience in the world, but once you have made the switch and committed to it, there are a wealth of resources available to Noobs, as newbies are called. There is a real sense of community, and I have found myself receiving emails from notables in the Linux community who have spotted posts of mine in the Ubuntu forums, asking for help. I am planning on sponsoring a major seminar next year to promote open source software here in Costa Rica. One of the best things about the Open Source movement is that there are tons of Free software titles out there, with quality equal to or surpassing that of the commercial products available for Windows... No wonder Microsoft is terrified of Open Source. I have to produce a lot of PDF documents in my business. I struggled with various "Free" ad-ons to Microsoft Word, and even considered paying for Adobe Acrobat. With Open Office, saving to a full featured PDF, is included in the program. Tomboy is just another pleasant surprise in my journey to Linux mastery. If you have not tried Linux and have 10 gigabytes or so of free diskspace on your PC, you should consider setting up a Linux partition. There are various flavors to chose from. Ubuntu is easy, free and you can download the disk image directly from their website. After burning a CD, you can try it before you even install (The CD is bootable, without changing your Windows configuration). But installing it is a JOY. Once you have done so, the world of Tomboy and Open Office and a wealth of other software will be open to you. Unless you or your business relies heavily on Microsoft Applications, I don't think you will look back. November 30, 2006
Is this the iPhone?
Thin, with the familiar iPod industrial design... If this is the long rumored iPhone, I will be very disappointed. One of the most bone headed and arrogant things Steve Jobs did when he re-took the helm at Apple was to cancel the Newton project. Seeing the success that Palm had in taking advantage of the market created by Apple, and the strong support the Newton platform has even today, it is easy to conceive that a fourth generation Newton would have been a huge success. Apple currently owns dozens of technologies, including those included in the Newton and patents on others that could result in a robust smart phone experience. Imagine OS X on a smartphone, with Newton Handwriting Technology! If the eventual iPhone turns out to be nothing more that an iPod with a phone strapped to it, Apple will have blown a golden opportunity, and will disappoint legions of fans who like me... hope for so much more. YourCall Updated!
"The combination of Agendus Premier and YourCall, are what completes the Treo Smartphone!" I have been an Agendus user since the days when it was called Action Names. I purchased the YourCall add-on the day it appeared on the market, and it has made managing my busy schedule and keeping track of conversations a pleasure. The following is from the YourCall Site:
I loaded it up this afternoon, and was tempted to make a couple of calls, just to play with the new features. I didn't but I will probably handle some calls tomorrow. One of the great things about the release of the new Treo 680, is that a lot of software is being updated for the Treo. My own setup, which includes email, chat, call recording and the above mentioned Agendus and YourCall, is about as close as one can come to having full Personal Assistant functionality in a device I can carry around with me. YourCall's integration with Agendus is incredible. It was always a problem with me before installing YourCall, that I would forget about important points covered during mobile conversations, especially while on the move. YourCall and Agendus have fixed that, by enabling me to instantly, with a couple of taps of my stylus, schedule follow ups, make quick notes or even send a quick email, after a phone call, and the new logging features of YourCall are really powerful additions. November 29, 2006
The Future of Palm
The truth is, despite my own desire to get a Treo 680, and my love for Palm Hardware and Software, (I own both a Treo 650, and a Lifedrive). I am far from being one of those drooling Palm Fanboys, who has sold his soul for the occasional demo handout. I believe that Palm has grown far to comfortable with it's leadership position in the last few years and has grown complacent. My Treo is a great business tool. It allows me to stay connected away from the office and to keep in touch with clients via email and chat. It's an amazing device, made even more amazing by fantastic developers like Hobbyist software, who publish just about every piece of software on my Treo. But it is fatally flawed. How Palm could ship a smartphone with only 24mb of usable memory is both a mystery, and an insult to people who paid up to $600 for the phone. Especially when HP and others offer WIndows Mobile based smartphones with 128mb of memory at about the same price. To add to the insult, the None of the Palm based Treo line, even the 680, offer Wifi as an option. And while I love my 650, not a day passes that I don't have some kind of a reset. Likewise, my Lifedrive is a wonder of technology... 4 Gigabytes of memory (Hard Drive Based), Wifi and Bluetooth... Great Screen... And it crashes daily as well, despite the fact that every piece of software on it is Lifedrive compatible... Not to mention the fact that it is slow as molasseses in winter (Due to the lack of REAL RAM... Even the RAM is based on the Hard Disk). Palm makes the problem worse by ignoring customer feedback, and providing the worst support India can offer. So why do I remain a Palm Addict? Because I know what Palm CAN do. I am hoping for a T/X 2, because I believe that Palm can recapture the old magic. They just need to provide a good device with multiple wireless functionality and Gigs of memory... At a fair price... And if Skype continues to refuse to release a Palm VOIP Client, program one yourself. It is time Palm got true access to the biggest VOIP network in the world, without having to do black magic to do so. I want to stay with Palm, and for the short term I will. I have a lot invested in Palm add-ons and software. But if Palm does not come up with a compelling handheld product next year, I may be switching to Windows Mobile. November 22, 2006
Treo 680 Arriving first week in December
Brighthand does the best all around review. Mobility Today adds some nice YouTube video to their review. Palm Infocenter has a nice photo gallery. TreoCentral also weighs in... And of course, standard bearer Palm Addicts has extensive coverage, including this review, after using the Treo 680 for a week. My overall sentiment after reading all of the reviews? I will get one. The new tweaks in software, new web browser, and most of all, additional memory, make it a required upgrade for me. I have spoken many times about how my Treo is my office on the move, this "new office," will give me some much needed enhancements to my "office space," while at the same time, allowing me to continue to perpetuate our image as a cutting edge company in Costa Rica. Several times I have been the ONLY person to have a certain model of tech in Costa Rica, and putting aside the ego factor, this has been a remarkable marketing tool. Nothing says, "competancy," more than having the latest and greatest technology at your disposal, and utilizing it for maximum efficiency. November 21, 2006
Talk about "Space Age Technology"
Reminds me of the Afro pik I used to comb my nappy hair with when I was a kid! I am forever amazed at the developments in technology over the last 30 years. It is amazing that something this small is more powerful than the computer that landed Apollo 11 on the moon in 1969, and 1000X more complex. Talked about suped up...
What's next, water cooled smartphones? November 19, 2006
Any Linux Gurus out there?
I recently upgraded to Ubuntu Edgy and added KDE desktop.
Treo 680 Fund
The Treo 680 Fund has been officially kicked off. If you enjoy ISOU, have been saved from getting ripped off by Nigerian Lottery/419 Scammers, or if you just want to hook a brother up with an early Christmas present, consider dropping a couple of bucks in the tip jar. You will find it over on the right! Oh yeah, and if you are a marketing type from Palm, and you just happen to google up on this site, send a guy a 680, I have probably sold enough Treo's in the last year to have earned a million Palm Bucks! Hehe... I can understand why...
Zune is selling like ice cubes at an Eskimo reservation... And I can also understand why Bill, is suddenly being modest...
The thing is butt ugly, it's Microsoft, and.... and what, that is all I really have to say. Think Pocket PC version 1! Yep you got the picture.
I mean what genius came up with "Brown," for a color? Ain't Technology Grand
I was sitting here playing with my Treo 650 tonight, lamenting the 24 Megabytes of memory that prevents me from loading more applications (I am down to about 7 Megabytes). I recalled watching From the Earth to the Moon, the other night with my kid, and it got me to thinking... Here I am sitting with a little marvel of technology that allows me to make phone calls wirelessly almost anywhere in the world. I can keep my schedule, compose Microsoft Office compatible documents, surf the internet, and am always in touch with my email and SMS. I wondered out loud, how much memory Apollo 11 had on its onboard Landing Module Computer.... So I googled it...
"The on-board Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) was about 1 cubic foot with 2K of 16-bit RAM and 36K of hard-wired core-rope memory with copper wires threaded or not threaded through tiny magnetic cores. The 16-bit words were generally 14 bits of data (or two op-codes), 1 sign bit, and 1 parity bit. The cycle time was 11.7 micro-seconds. Programming was done in assembly language and in an interpretive language, in reverse Polish. Scaling was fixed point fractional. An assembly language ADD took about 23.4 micro-seconds. The operating system featured a multi-programmed, priority/event driven asynchronous executive packed into 2K of memory. The Mean Time to Failure (MTBF) of the machine in a space environment was calculated at 50,000 hours -- almost 6 years, and it never failed in flight operations. It was truly a marvel for its time, a tribute to M.I.T.'s designers, and it accomplished a most complex mission." 38k.... That's right... "k" not Megabytes, not Gigabytes, but "k." I looked around my desk.... My watch has more memory than the craft that first landed man on the moon. In fact, my freaking toaster probably does... We've come a long way baby. The question one must ask is... What happened to simple elegant programming. I dont think a single application on my Treo would even fit into the memory of that glorious machine that fulfilled so many of our dreams and aspirations... And it didn't even crash! November 18, 2006
Another interesting GTD Tool!
This looks to be a very interesting piece of software:
I am "slumming it," tonight in Linux, and have not been able to get it to install due to some problems with my Java installation. Give it a look, go through the demos, for those implementing GTD, this looks to be another great tool, and it's free. The new Gmail Mobile Application... Is it worth the space on your Treo?
I tried out Gmail Mobile last night. I downloaded the Java Application for my Treo 650, and installed it. Then logged on to Gmail via the Treo's Blazer web browser. The Gmail page gave me the option of downloading the Java Applet for Gmail on the Palm. It took a couple of tries to get the Java application to install the applet, but it finally worked. I gave it a quick spin, and much like the Opera Mini Java Applet, it loaded fine, asked me if I wanted to use airtime to connect to Gmail, connected and allowed me to futz around with my Gmail inbox. My conclusions? Not worth the huge footprint that installing Java requires (On my Treo about 1.5 Megabytes). For a device with only 24 MB of usable memory, and one that will get flaky if it gets below 5MB, Gmail Mobile offers nothing compelling. It is far easier and less resource intensive to just add my Gmail account to Chatter Mail, and download it periodically, rather than adding an additional application.
I might feel differently if I was using Gmail as a portal to all of my email addresses, but I am not. Even under those circumstances I probably would not, as the interface is just not as "roomy," as Chattermail, and of course there is no Push functionality. Like most things from Google, Gmail Mobile is getting a lot of initial play. All the techie types want to give it a spin, including yours truly. But the novelty wore off quickly, and it did not last an hour on my Treo, before being uninstalled, along with the bloated Java Virtual Machine (Which Palm should have loaded in ROM). So if you use GMail as your main or only email application, and push is not important to you, this application may have some merit, otherwise, skip it and save the space... Crossposted to my business blogNovember 11, 2006
Blogging for Dollars
Think blogging is just for political partisans and nerds? Think again.... ![]() Blogging is turning into a big bucks opportunity. The model may still be a young one, but the opportunity is clear.
What will be interesting is watching how the blogging revolution takes off here in Latin America. I recently spoke with a friend who is a major player in developing the technology industry in the region. I had spoken with him once before about starting a blog. At the time he was not interested, today he is. He sees the potential for networking, reaching a larger audience and promoting investment in Technology in the region. It will be interesting to see how things shake out. November 10, 2006
GTD and Gmail, the killer Time Management App?
For those of you using the GTD system of time management, this is a HOT new application. GTD Gmail is a browser plug-in that allows you to create an entire GTD based system within the Gmail environment. I have been flirting with GTD for several months now trying to integrate it's principles into my more traditional Franklin Covey approach to time and task management.
My recent move to Ubuntu Linux has made the desktop portion of my experience, a bit more challenging, but I am still a STRONG supporter of Agendus on my Palm Handheld. I am still struggling and experimenting with GTD, so I am far from proficient in it. But I have adopted several tools, that I hope with time will help me to adapt to the process and to become even more efficient. Memoleaf in particular has been a great tool in adopting GTD. I rarely even used memos as a tool in keeping track of things. Memoleaf has given me a way to better keep track of memos and notes and to incorporate them into my planning process. If you use a Palm Handheld or smartphone, it is well worth the investment. The new GTD Gmail tool, is just another step in my incorporation of GTD into my daily process management scheme. For those of you who might be interested, there is an excellent Yahoo Group on Palm/GTD located here. November 08, 2006
Sync your handheld with Google Calendar
Since moving most of my day to day work to Linux, and finally getting my Palm Lifedrive (My main Palm), I have been trying to figure out a way to sync my Treo 650 without screwing up my delicate Linux syc configuration. Today I found the solution to that problem and a whole lot more! From Brighthand today:
I now have the ability to remote sync with my Google Calendar. Using this same system, I dont need to sync my Treo to the Linux desktop, I just make sure all of my Google Calendar data is up to date, and then occasionally sync the Treo via GPRS. Nice solution by the way. One of the things that is also nice, is that my clients can not get a snapshot of my free time just by visiting my Google Calendar, and know that it is always up to date. Sweet! Crossposted to Business BlogNovember 07, 2006
Why I am for the TLC!
As one of Costa Rica's Technorati, I was one of the first people to get this service. I have used the GPRS internet connection with various equiptment for the last five years. When I purchased my Treo 650, and Chattermail, I was in connected heaven! I finally had a solution, along with Causerie Internet Messaging, and the built in Blazer Web Browser, that gave me a reasonable facsimile of my office communication tools. I was able to stay in constant communication using a combination of push email. IM and SMS, without ever making a phone call... Best part about it... The Service, still in test, is free! Well I guess ICE did not like the fact that someone was ALWAYS connected to thier GPRS network. About a month ago, the service stopped working. Since I am constantly tweaking my Treo, I assumed it was some software problem. I hard reset my phone, went through the painful process or reinstalling everything and then customizing my settings... Still did not work. I have been a MONTH without mobile Internet, and it HURT. Well, today on a lark, my wife called ICE to ask why the service was not working. Since they announced that they would soon be going out of test mode, and charging for the service, we assumed that they disconnected my GPRS in preparation for charging me for it... NO... They disconnected it because they said, "he is not using it." Har de har, har! They simply disconnected my service, one I have had for five years... without even asking or informing me... I cant wait until these guys have some competition! November 06, 2006
Running Linux for the past three days!
I have been using Ubuntu Unix exclussively for three days now, without shutting down my computer.
I have not experienced a single crash or slow down. My internet connection is running at about 2x the speed that it runs under windows. I am multi-tasking like a madman, and I have not missed Windoze one bit. I have full read access to my Windows document folder, and can once again use my Palm Lifedrive in drive mode. I am also using my iPod as an external disk. After a few days of this, I am want to muse.... "Why would anyone WANT to use Windows? Crossposted to my Business Blog October 29, 2006
Treo 680 Coming to Cingular in about a week
Download the PDF here. My only issue... Looks like the unlocked version is going to be over $400 bucks. Not exactly what I expected, but I will probably upgrade anyway. ![]() October 26, 2006
Core Player for Palm now out...
I purchased it, right after reading this article on PalmInfoCenter: Keep in mind that this is version 1 software, but I am pleased with it. After copying all of my iPod videos to a folder on my Lifedrive, I can now watch the movies on my palm, as well as listen to my MP3 Collection. October 25, 2006
Looking to buy a Treo
I am GOING to buy a new Treo 680, as soon as the unlocked models are available. This comparrison chart from Teonauts compares all of the current Treo line, if you are considering purchasing a smart phone, its a must review item. And you thought....
That those messages to your new transexual girlfriend in Brazil were confidential!
Nick Sparagis asks a question no doubt on the minds of anyone who logs onto personal e-mail while at work: The Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) scandal has brought to the surface the curiosity I have had for quite a long time about snooping. I know that using corporate e-mail is always a bad idea for personal use, but how about Web-based e-mail programs like Yahoo! Mail (YHOO) or Google's Gmail (GOOG) inside your corporate network? Can a company read these messages also, if they go through the corporate network? How about my instant messages? Bottom line..... Save the personal shit for HOME, UNLESS your company specifically allows you to use the internet at work, and to conduct personal business using corporate resources... Simple question....
Why does anyone use Verizon? Hat tip, Tech Dirt October 18, 2006
New Treo 680 getting lots of publicity...
October 12, 2006
Looks like time to Upgrade! Hehe...
Brighthand and Palm Addicts are reporting the announcement of the long anticipated Treo 680.
The DigitalLife conference is going on now in New York, and Palm, Inc. is currently holding a press conference to announce its latest Treo smartphone.
Engadget has a blow by blow update. 1:18PM: But it will be very competitively priced. Graphite, Copper, Arctic, and Crimson are the new colors. Snazzy. 1:19PM: We're pushing the design to make it more phone-like; we want to expand geographically and demographically. We've been very successful in the States, and we have many carrier partners around the world. 1:20PM: We just launched the Treo 750v with our partner Vodafone -- that product will come to the rest of the world. Same will be true with the Treo 680. 1:21PM: [Doing demo of the Treo 680] This is for featurephone upgraders: we know this is the ideal formfactor for a phone of this class. 1:22PM: [Running down features] Support for Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF files, 64MB of RAM, VGA camera, Bluetooth and infrared. What's unique? Brand new phone application and UI. Full user guide on the device. Includes wired car kit application [have to buy a kit, of course]. Hold launcher key to get "most recently used applications." New five tab home screen. Simplified favorites view. Integrated contacts, built directly into the phone application. Active call thumbnails. Easy multiway conference calls. VersaMail 3.5, now includes Exchange contacts sync. Improved addressing. AutoSync any combo of mail, calendar, contacts. Includes Docs To Go Professional v8.0 for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF files. 1:24PM: Multimedia: new pictures and videos applications, add music to slideshow, save a picture as contact directly from album. Pocket Tunes comes included. Voice memo application. 1:25PM: Streaming media: supports both audio and video, WMA and WMV support. Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, lacks antenna (finally). Moved SD memory card slot to the side (madness!). 1:26PM: Partner demos: Yahoo! Music, Six Apart (for blogging), Google Maps. You get 30 days of Yahoo Music Unlimited with purchase. 1:27PM: There's a mobile version of TypePad. Now they're showing off Google Maps for Treo -- traffic info included (sweet). 1:28PM: Color us impressed: Google Maps on this thing is pretty hot. 1:30PM: [Demo is over, back to the overview stuff] We're going after the "mobile accomplisher" market. Nine times the size of the mobile professional market. Here's that 680 customer, hasn't purchased a Treo or any kind of smartphone before. There are other things that smartphones give you access to beyond email and calendar... 1:32PM: We've doing a new advertising campaign in partnership with Yahoo, eBay, and Google to highlight these new features. We've improved the browser so that it caches these pages and is faster at delivering content. Damn, this thing is going to be HOT! The 64Mb of memory alone is enough to demand an upgrade, but the updated software will make it an instant best seller. Not only do you get more memory, but many of the third party applications I use now will be unnecessary with the improvements in the stock, in ROM applications. SWEET! I will pay $400 for an unlocked version of this phone! Update: It's up on Palm's Site!
October 04, 2006
Skylook is on Version 2!
Do you use Skype for VOIP? Are you an Outlook User? Do you value software that simply makes your life easier, and Gets Things Done. Then THIS is something you need. Standard Outlook lets you send, receive, forward, reply to, store, organize, search, follow-up and archive emails. I have been an enthusiastic user of Skylook since version one, and version 2 adds a boatload of features to an already awesome feature set. If you use Skype, and you don't have Skylook, then your Skype experience is incomplete. Must have business Application
![]() I am a mobile executive. It is the nature of not only who I am, but also what I do. My purchase of a Palm Treo 650 a few months back, was probably one of the best investments I have ever made. I have been an iambic Agendus fan for many years now, going back to the Action Names days. As a busy consultant, I am almost never stationary, and I depend on my Treo to be my “office, away from the office.” It manages my agenda, alows me to carry important documents while away from my computer, acts as my messenger (via SMS) and has always on, Blackberry style push email. But the Agenda function is second only to email in importance to me. I am always looking for an edge in managing my business, and Iambic has given me that edge with it’s outstanding time and project management features. Lets start with Agendus Premier.
With Premier I am able to intelligently manage my schedule while on the run. If the person I am trying to schedule a meeting with has a Treo, the features are even more powerful. My biggest enemy is time, and Agendus helps me to control it in ways that are both powerful and flexible, and it even has an outlook plugin.
YourCall integrates with Agendus, and the phone application on your Treo. When you recieve or make a call and end the call, a dialogue like the one at the left appears on the phone and allows you to immediately create an action in Agendus. This has been very helpful to me already. I recieved several calls today relating to meetings I have scheduled for Friday. Normally I would try to remember to later make a note in my Treo regarding any follow up actions. This is a lot easier for me since I have Call Record, which automatically records all my phone calls, and I can refer to the recordings later as cheat notes, but YourCall really automates the process of setting up next steps. Today, after each call, I was prompted with the action screen, and quickly scheduled a meeting and several tasks directly from the screen after the call. The call information was also automatically logged in Agendus. For $10, this is a piece of must have software. Keep an eye on iambic. They have some really compelling solutions for the executive on the go, or even for just busy people who need to keep their schedules and work on track. Crossposted to my business blogSeptember 26, 2006
A ninja in my pocket!
For today only, you can get one of the SWEETEST pieces of software I have seen in a while for FREE. NTI Ninja is exciting software that maximizes data protection by using a driver level encryption technology to create private and public partitions on USB storage devices. Ninja allows you to easily access and share commonly used data on the public partition, and also restrict and hide access to confidential data on the private partition simultaneously. I downloaded it tonight, installed it on my thumb drive and BAM! James Bond shit!
![]() I can now carry arround a whole bunch of files that I would normaly be worried about losing. The technology is cool, and the price is SOOOOO right. So get it while you can. Personally, this is one I would have paid for. September 21, 2006
You Tube on your iPod
Ever wanted to save some of the cool You Tube videos to your video iPod? Here is the tool! Now Playing on David's iPod: September 20, 2006
Is there such a thing as being "too" connected?
September 12, 2006
Losing Credibility???
Has Palm Addicts sold out? September 05, 2006
Post at Palm Addicts
I had a small post about the Palm Treo posted to the premier Palm Devotee site today: I look to Palm Addicts on a daily basis to keep me up to date on what is happening in the Palm and Mobile Technology world. It was your raving reviews of the Treo 650 that convinced me to buy one not too long ago. I am a long time Palm user going all the way back to the Pilot, and I have owned almost every model produced by Palm, and a couple of Sony Models. My most recent model before the Treo, was a Lifedrive, and I have been more or less pleased with it, despite the sometimes flaky behaviour and resets. Also posted here. Happy Anniversary...
To Palm Addicts... September 04, 2006
I wish....
I could take pictures like this one... Believe it or not, taken with my Treo 650 while at the beach last month... Making the move to Linux....
One baby step at a time! I have grown sick of using Windows to try to get my work done. I recently reinstalled a dual boot system with Ubuntu. While I will admit to small frustrations... Like not being able to get my Epson Stylus CX3700 Printer/Scanner, to work, and not being able to sync my Palm devices.... I am loving the stability and speed of Linux. The fact that I could not access files from my Windows volume, was a major pain, now solved. Hopefully some Unix Guru will read this, take pitty on me and help me work through my Palm and Printer/Scanner woes. At any rate, it is like having a Mac again, and has breathed new life into my Thinkpad. Is Palm OS in Trouble?
I don't think so, but I do think Palm will be, unless they do something about quality and support issues. How secure is your data?
Maybe not as secure as you think? Google Spy?
Is Google getting a bit ahead of themselves? It appears that they might be... September 03, 2006
My Tech - An Update
I have made a couple of changes this week in my usage of Technology, that should have a possitive impact on my personaly productivity. I installed Ubuntu, the free Linux distribution (See image above), a while back. I liked it, but found too many things lacking, mainly solid support for my Palm handhelds. Since then I have made some changes on how I use my Palm. (Switching over to carrying ONLY my Treo 650), and have found that the syncronization of the Palm is less important to me than I originaly thought. I still cant reliably syc the Palm, but I am learning to live without this as a major priority. Since I have a dual boot system, I can always boot into windows to do anything I MUST do with the palm. Meanwhile, the Ubuntu O/S is fast, reliable, flexible and frankly "beautiful." I have been using ALL open source software, and honestly have not had my productivity hampered ONE BIT. On the Palm Side, my Treo has become my main device, and I find that using it to manage my calendar, on the move email and messaging, and even some project management tasks, is a breeze. UPDATE: I just discovered how to mount my Windows directories in Ubuntu! Now I can access my files from the Dark Side without using my USB Key! August 31, 2006
My Litte Experiment
Slow blogging the last couple of days. I have been doing some training with one of my clients, and working on developing a Phase III project for them. I have been tweaking my Treo 650 over the last couple of weeks and working on making sure the device is both stable and robust enough to handle my day to day PDA needs. Documents to Go So I should have the main areas, (Document Management, Agenda and Contact Management, and Push email), handled. Will let you know how it turns out.... August 26, 2006
The iPod Killer gains momentum...
From cnet News: August 25, 2006
Wifi Camera?
"Looks like Nikon is jumping on the Wi-Fi camera bandwagon. Can surfing with your digital camera be far away? All kidding aside, this Wi-Fi idea does seem cool. Snap your cool looking pic and send it off to friends via Wi-Fi or send them to the nearest printer." August 24, 2006
The reality of non convergence....
August 23, 2006
Get your James Bond Vibe on...
August 23, 2006 10:50 AM PDT SWEEEET! Ad me to the list of folks who wants to ad this to his gadget bag.
August 22, 2006
Do you do "internet cafe's?"
Not I.... And there is a good reason....
[From JustinB] Justin sent me this in, and if you start surfing on your wifi enabled Palm device or a Airport internet terminal then just be careful. The New York Times carries the full story. "Any business traveler who has logged on to a wireless network at the airport, printed a document at a hotel business center or checked e-mail messages at a public terminal has probably wondered, at least fleetingly, "Is this safe?" Although obsessing about computer security is a bit like worrying about a toddler — potential hazards lurk everywhere and you can drive yourself crazy trying to avoid them — the fact is, business travelers take certain risks with the things they do on most trips. "If you go into the average hotel and sit down in the business center and have a look at their computer, I'm sure you'll find some interesting things that people should'’t have left behind," No it isn't safe, and that is why Smartphones and PDA's with Wifi access are so important to those of us who travel.I don't travel without my Treo or Lifedrive, usually both. And other than not being able to log onto certain sites that have been programmed for Internet Explorer, (My bank among them), I can usually handle any business that I would normally take care of using my notebook or desktop P.C.. In the two months or so that I have been using my Treo, it has become an indispensable tool for me in my daily business life. While I still do all my heavy document processing and calendar stuff using my Palm Lifedrive, I depend on my Treo and Chattermail to keep me connected with what is going on with clients and business contacts. The "Blackberry," like push capabilities of Chattermail have made my busy life so much more manageable. Instead of sweating over missing an important email, I just go about my day, and when email arrives to my server, it gets delivered almost instantly to my GSM based Treo. Likewise if I get an important document request, I keep most of them on a 1GB card in the Treo and simply attach and send. When I travel I buy a local prepaid GSM chip and make sure I can use GPRS email, before even leaving the country.Trusting your confidential emails and business documents to an internet cafe or business center is simply ridiculous in today's world. There are far too many options, even if you don't want to carry a bulky notebook computer. In fact, add a keyboard and I am more than good to go with the Lifedrive. Even if you are not too concerned with security, there is the issue of viruses. Do you really want to expose the people you are communicating with to any virus or worm that may be hiding on the public system you are using? Google does it again...
We've been working to make Picasa (Google's free photo-organizing software) even better when it comes to searching for your own photos—to make finding them be as easy as finding stuff on the web. Luckily we've found some people who share this goal, and are excited that the Neven Vision team is now part of Google. This is exciting news. I have used Picasa off and on since version 1, but never really got into it because of the system overhead. Frankly I just didn't see where it added any value over the included browsing tools that come with Windows. The kind of intelligent filing described above is reason to use it. I have about 5,000 pictures stored on my computer and it often takes me forever to find anything. This could be truly useful. August 21, 2006
This ROCKS!
Google nearly sneaked this one in us. Late Thursday, Google quietly made Writely, the online word processor the company acquired in March, available to the online populace again. As 4PM EDT Friday, there's still no mention of at the Press Center. And I was waiting for it to happen. Let see.... You got Mail You got Calendar You got Spreadsheet and now you have Word Processor... Whoa! It may not be a Microsoft killer, but it may not HAVE to be. Many people dont need the full blown robustness of Microsoft Office. I know I don't for most task. Add to that the fact that you can share and collaborate with the above tools for FREE, and you have a winning combination! Add true sync capabilities to these products and Palm for example, and you have a REAL killer application. August 15, 2006
The Blackberry Killer
August 08, 2006
Palm Addict's Giveaways
Palm Addicts has been giving away stuff for the last week or so. A real good reason to read what is a great Palm Technology site. OK we are going back in time for today's segment of our office clutter giveaway. The last week has seen us clear clutter from our office as we are move space around Palm Addict Towers. Last Thursday's winner Mark Gallagher who won the LifeDrive has requested not to take it only because he has just invested in a Treo 700p and would like to give the LifeDrive to another lucky winner, so with that in mind, the LifeDrive is back on the giveaway market. It's 18 month's old and comes with a Proporta case. Winner announced later, readers and writers welcome to participate. August 05, 2006
This guy could easily be
This guy could easily be me!
August 04, 2006
Is this the rumored Treo Nitro?>
Read the whole article. Hat tip to Palm Addicts. August 03, 2006
Great deal on Great piece of software for your Palm
If you purchase DateBk5 now, or have purchased it on or after January 1, 2005, you are eligible for a free upgrade to the forthcoming DateBk6 DateBk is what the Palm Calendar Application SHOULD Be. Take advantage of this deal.
August 02, 2006
Dell going out of the PDA business...
"DigiTimes reports that Dell has stopped its PDA development altogether and has diverted the funding to its notebook division. According to reports, Dell turned off the faucet in 2005. Dell's last all-new model was introduced in 2004 in the form of the Windows Mobile 2003 based Axim X50 series. The company then released a minor update in the form of the Axim X51 series which basically added the Windows Mobile 2005 operating system. More at DailyTech" August 01, 2006
Some new toys for the Treo 650...
July 29, 2006
We can dream cant we???
Okay, the rumor is out that Apple will introduce their "iPhone," next month. I have no clue if it will be released, or what it will look like, but MAN, this ROCKS! Zune?
If the rumors are true, Apple may be in trouble. Despite my distaste for Microsoft products, this one looks like a killer one.
Wifi....
What if, instead of burning up minutes on your cellphone plan, you could make free or cheap calls over the wireless networks that allow Internet access in many coffee shops, airports and homes? Is it going to happen... You betcha! But not without a fight from the Cell Phone Service Providers. Wifi is the 800 Pound Gorrila pounding on the door. And despite efforts by Verizon, Sprint and others to keep Wifi off the table, by insisting that manufacturers like Palm deliver units without Wifi, the consumers are winning the battle. There was a roar of outrage when the latest Palm Treo premiered without Wifi, and Palm recently responded by promising Wifi on future models. Customers are DEMANDING the availability of Wifi in high end phones, and successes like HP's 6900 series , are giving it to them. The Stupidity and arrogance of Microsoft
July 25, 2006
Suited up!
The joys of Skype
I met Hanan from Moroco - Play MP3 the other day on Skype. She is a precious 19 year old who wants to study Nursing abroad. What a beautiful voice she has. The next day this other gorgeous, (Yes I saw a picture) Colombiana hit me up on Skype... Oh to be single again! Hehe... July 23, 2006
Are Smartphones worth the cost?
After more than a week with my Treo 650, I found this article very interesting. I can officially say that long use of converged devices has made me a bit of a mobile advocate. I see the benefit of having everything that you need literally at your fingertips. This is not a bad thing for most people that I come in contact with, either. Many people like that they can do a quick Google search for a local restaurant on their mobile phone, or that they can pull up a map of someplace they are going while already on the way. Make sure to read it all. The answer for me to the question, "Are smartphones worth it," is a resounding yes after a week of using my Treo. I still carry my lifedrive arround, for now. But as I load up the treo with the files I need on a daily basis, I will probably carry it less. There are still some things I dont like doing on the small screen of the Treo... document processing comes to mind. I am going to add to the Treo certain documents I need to carry with me, and the LD will likely stay in it's pouch most of the time. July 20, 2006
Day Four with my Treo 650
The thing JUST WORKS! That is what is so cool about it. It just works, just gets out there and gets the job done, and what more can you ask. Tomorrow I have another full day, and I expect the phone will keep me on schedule and well informed throughout the day. I will be having lunch with a potential client at noon, meeting with an existing client at 2pm, and then its off to the SPA for a little relaxation. I really need to stay on top of things tomorrow as I am expecting to close a MAJOR deal tommorow and will be away from my office and waiting for the call or email. One of the things I have noticed... The speed of the Treo makes me notice much more, just how slow the lifedrive is. July 16, 2006
This guy is funny!
Day Two - Treo Impresssions
July 15, 2006
Treo 650 First Impressions
July 13, 2006
Why would ANYONE choose Verizon Wireless?
This is interesting news:It seems
IWinBreak writes "Marketwatch is reporting that, nine months after their announcement, Microsoft and Yahoo! are finally ready to roll out beta IM clients of MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger that will be able to talk to each other." The Windows Live Ideas and Yahoo! Messenger pages have more information; the companies say that the resulting user community will be the world's largest, at around 350 million accounts, and that they'll be using SSL to encrypt the traffic between the systems. Personally I love it. I have always liked Yahoo Messenger better, and the new Beta rocks. July 12, 2006
Still waiting for my Treo
New government in Costa Rica, this means new Customs officers, new rules, delays... It sucks. My phone has been here in Costa Rica since early last week, and I still dont have it. Ever done this?
Makes me nostalgic for the days when Palms just worked! No weird resets, phenomenal battery life... Simplicity! And the commercial is pretty hot too! July 10, 2006
New Treo should arrive tomorrow!
June 30, 2006
Sony Ericsson Headset Review on TreoCentral
June 29, 2006
Pimpin' out the Treo
I have not yet recieved the Treo I ordered the other day, but I am already working on "pimping it out." I just ordered a new 2GB SD card, should help me to eliminate the Treo's know memory limitations. I will probably also pick up a nice hard case for it. But want to wait and see what comes with it first. June 27, 2006
I'm joining the Treo Club
June 26, 2006
Analog Life Management
By Kim-Mai Cutler, Globe CorrespondentJune 25, 2006I just don't see the efficiency of paper. Been there, done that, got the Franklin Planner Archives in my garage. For me, the ability to backup my information, to search and categorize it, to create dynamic links, IS the power of organization. Add to that the fact that I am not cutting down trees, and I am a happy camper. To me, the whole "Analog movement," is just a fad. But if anyone wants to send me some of those expensive Moleskine thingies, I will be sure to use them for notes and doodling, about the only thing I don't find satisfying on my PDA. June 25, 2006
Piel Frama Cases Rock!
Read this review on Palm Addicts, one of my favorite Palm Fan Sites. Accessories bring the unique dimension of personalization. We can accessorize and amp up our PDA’s appearance or functionality simply by changing the case or clip; or popping out the latest Bluetooth keyboard or by the choosing the type of stylus we use. Over the next few days, I’ll be reviewing some of my favorite PDA accessories. Accessories have added to my Palm’s life some stylish panache, purposeful practicality, elevated efficiency and peerless protection. I’ve entitled the series of reviews: “The Best of the Best” Palm Accessories. ![]()
My Love Hate Relationship with my Lifedrive
Palm and RIM in a Marriage?
A few interesting rumors are starting to circulate on a Palm and Research In Motion (RIM) merger this Thursday (06/29/2006). There are a couple of good points here but I think there's a bit more to this. *** It could be very interesting... A Palm Device with full RIM integration, would be a killer app. June 22, 2006
Heh!
This ROCKS!
Anyone who reads ISOU knows I am a time management and organization freak. My version of Microsoft Outlook is so customized it is unbelievable. But I live and die in my business life by email! I am trying Neo email organizer, and I have to tell you, it ROCKS! I am not sure I can justify buying the full version, but it is definately worth it. Give the free version a spin and see if it works for you. I can tell you, I have been using it for just 15 minutes and I can already see where I will save hours! June 18, 2006
Watching movies on your Palm
I do this all the time with my Lifedrive. It's great on long trips, like my monthly drive up to Esterillo. Tip, when possible, load movies to an SD card, they play smoother and use less battery power, than loading them to the Lifedrive's internal hard drive. June 16, 2006
This is one SWEET idea!We
This is one SWEET idea! Some people should be banned from owning technology...
There is no excuse for stupidity: Back in March, we noted how stories covering the death of a deaf girl who got hit by a train focused on the fact that she was text messaging when she was killed, rather than the other circumstances leading to her death. Now, in India, a 23-year-old woman has been killed in similar circumstances -- she was crossing a railroad track, talking on a cell phone, when she got struck by a train and killed. This, of course, becomes an article called "Cell phones can kill". The phone really had nothing to do with it, but rather a person who, for some reason, thought it would be a good idea to walk on or cross some train tracks while not paying any attention. Sorry if I come off as a bit harsh, but I just think that some people are best left "technologyless." As the above article points out, the people who died as a result of not paying attention to their surroundings, are not victims of technology. They are victims of their own carelessness. Read the comments to this post. Notice how many people, after seeing overwhelming evidence that the so called Australian Lottery was a fraud, continued to practically BEG for help in "securing their winnings"? Even after this BRUTAL warning: "This is a scam. We did a search for this info before we followed their instructions to send them the money from the check. Could not find anything on the web so we went through with it. My wife and I are now out 3000 dollars. Had to borrow money to pay the bank for the COUNTERFEIT check. DO NOT DO THIS. IT IS A SCAM. My wife and I are going to try to contact the news to get this info out there more. We are now broke forever..." People continue to post asking how we know its a scam. These people should have their Internet accounts revoked and their computers seized. It is people like this who encourage 419 and Lottery Scams. And how many viruses and worms would be alive on the net, if not for idiots who don't install anti virus software and who happily click on every attachment they get in their emails. I for one am tired of the technically challenged. Give them a freaking abacus and a set of Encyclopedias, but keep them away from technology! June 09, 2006
This is going to be a MUST HAVE!
June 08, 2006
Deadbeat Nerd!
Technology, you clever minx. A father intent on hiding paying less child support was forced to pay more after his PDA revealed his true earnings. Timothy Gooden of Queens claimed that he didn't have steady work, so a judge ordered him to pay $60 a week in child support for his 8 year old. But it seems that he gave his ex-girlfriend his old PDA - which kept receiving his emails. June 04, 2006
Switching to Linux
I recently installed an open source version on Linux on my IBM Thinkpad. It's called Ubunto, and it ROCKS. I still need to take some time to learn a bit more about Linux, and how to do things like compile and install binaries, but Ubunto comes fully loaded with all the applications one needs to be productive. Suprisingly, it was easy to install and configure, and has a package management application that makes downloading and installing a wealth of Open Source applications, a breeze.
I think I have finaly found a way to get over my Mac Envy, without spending $2000 on a Mac! If you are tired of Windows constantly crashing on you, give it a try. You may never go back! May 24, 2006
Hehe...
Screw the political debate, I want to know what type of PDA that is, that Jon whips out near the end of the clip? May 23, 2006
Protecting your mobile data
This is a great article on protecting your mobile data. Read it, there are some great tips. May 20, 2006
From the people that brought you Skylook
Another absolutely must have application for those of us who use email as a tool. As you can see, it has a nice clean interface that hooks in nicely with Outlook or Outlook Express. It's fun! I just got a Waxmail from the developer down in Australia, and most important... IT'S FREE! Yep, 100% free. It places a small, unobtrussive tag line in your email saying it was sent with Waxmail, but that is it. And if you want to get rid of that, you can order a version free of it for $29 bucks. These guys are great. They have actually made Outlook a REAL tool for me at last. What is outstanding is, with Waxmail and Skylook, it's like having a $100,000 Multimedia Messaging and VoIP application running on your PC. I hope these guys will get arround to developing a mobile application. May 19, 2006
Much better than the "switch" ads...
Opera Mini for the Palm
There is a new version of Opera Mini for the Palm Platform. The last version did not support large screens like the one on my Lifedrive, so I did not like it. This one supports high res screens and is lightning fast. It gets my recommendation. While the page at Opera software says it is for the Treo 650 smartphone, it runs fine on other Palm Connected devices like the Lifedrive and T-Series. The Holy Grail of Palm Computing
While a smartphone VoIP solution has been around for the last couple of months, and while Skype has talking about it for a year at least, a VoIP solution has finally arrived for the Palm Platform. MobiVoIP provides at least a starting point for those of us who use Palm OS devices to join the VoIP revolution. I requested entry to the program and will let you all know once I have a log in, how well it works. The mobiVoIP solution looks interesting, but it's service plans appear to be a lot less flexible, and more expensive at least at this point, than Skype. Nevertheless, this new system will provide an attractive alternative to switching to another platform, just to get mobile VoIP connectivity. It will also apparently work over both wifi and cellular data connections (using bluetooth). The other drawback I see right now is limited global coverage. I am sure that will improve with time. May 18, 2006
Skype has made some major improvements
Skype is an indispensable business tool for me. Using it in combination with Skylook, a nifty Outlook plugin that extends the capabilities of Skype, and a Skype in and Skype Out subscription, I am able to maintain reasonably priced contact with customers and potential clients in the U.S. and Europe. I even have a U.S. based phone number! Skype has added some cool features in the last few days that make it even more of a value. Especially for people in the U.S. Free Skype Out calls to anyone in the U.S. or Canada. Now that is cool! For those of you who want to contact me on Skype, my Skype ID is davidsanderson. Or just click below:
![]() Hat tip, the glorious Erin! Best Palm OS Notepad I have seen
I use the notes function extensively on my Palm Handheld. I have tried several, including: Phatnotes All fine applications. Phatnotes is fine as a syncronizable notepad replacement. Pennovate was just too complicated for my use, and Bugme is fine for doodling. Yesterday I downloaded the trial for Iambic's Easy Notes. It blew me away. From its slick interface, to its flexibility (You can take regular text notes, pen notes and voice notes), to it's clean and simple interface, it is a winner. If you use a Palm Handheld device and are looking for an application that does it all when it comes to data capture... This is it. I wondered what happened...
From WAPO: Eran Reshef had an idea in the battle against spam e-mail that seemed to be working: he fought spam with spam. Today, he'll give up the fight. I have been using their software for a week now. And while I did not know if it was having an impact, it felt good to know I was doing SOMETHING, anything... in the war against these arrogant scumbags that fill my email and my blog with porn and viagra on a daily basis. These people are terrorist... Blue Security was fighting a lonely war against them, and now they have won. It is a sad day for those of us who use the internet for more than playing online games and trying to find someone to cheat on our spouses with... What I dont understand, is if we have the capacity to spy on millions of phone calls and emails, why can't we put spammers out of business. Spam will cost the world $50 billion in lost productivity and other expenses a research firm said Wednesday, with more than a third of that -- $17 billion -- wasted by U.S. firms. is obviously staggering... So my question is... If Blue Security could come up with an effective way to fight them, why can't our governments... May 17, 2006
Google Notebook...
Looks like Google Notebook is out... Forgive me if I am a bit... Underwhelmed. May 16, 2006
All I can say is, "better hurry!"
"Some sources have informed us of a rumor which would include the brand new TX2 which will be launched at the end of 2006 including a 4 gigas flash memory which is really a breakthrough for Palm. This new model would be expected for the end of 2006." May 15, 2006
The war agains spam goes nuclear!
MENLO PARK, Calif. - "PharmaMaster", one of the world's leading spammers, is the culprit who is holding the entire Internet hostage to stop the Blue Community and keep his spam business running says Blue Security. Blue Security is a company based in Israel than fights spam by targeting spammers and the businesses that advertise their products using spam. This is the first time I have seen anyone come up with a practical way to fight spam. I enrolled in the Blue Frog army last week. And I have noticed that several of the Viagra and Penny Stock spams I was getting daily have all but dissapeared. The only persisten ones I have not been able to shake are the Japanese spammers who seem to have escalated their mailings... The idea is a great one, Hit the spammers back and hit them hard and where it hurts... with their advertisers. I highly reccomend the Blue Frog solution. While I have not been a member long enough to see my spam completely dissapear, it seems to be working with some of the spammers already, and that is a blessing. Palm Blows it on Treo 700P
From Palmaddicts: "It is the year 2000, but where are the flying cars? I was promised flying cars. I don't see any flying cars. Why? Why? Why?" And they blew it big time. Compare the Trep 700P with the new HP Smartphone. Breeds apart...
But more importantly, Palm failed to listen to their loyal customers. The Palm Addicts post reflects what I suspect will be the general reception of this device in the Palm Loyal community. Treo users have been complaining about the lack of support for Wifi for over a year now. Palm Message boards have for the last several months, been filled with speculation about whether the new unit would have built in Wifi, or at least support the Palm Wifi card.The new unit does neither, and I suspect that Palm is going to pay for this error with dramatically reduced sales, and other editorials like the one above. Palm has misfired repeatedly in the last couple of years... i. Their poor implementation of NVFS ii. Launching the Treo 600 without bluetooth support iii. The storied problems with their Flagship Lifedrive Product iv. The numerous issues with the TX All of these have been reported on in the various Palm forums, along with Palm's very poor customer service. HP's new product has recieved some great reviews... I should in fact have my hands on one within the next couple of months, and I find my own Palm Lust hugely diminished... Perhaps Palm will fix the afforementioned issues when they release the GSM version of the phone.. But I would not hold my breath. May 13, 2006
Not that I want to lessen my chances to win...
I never seem to win these things anyway. But I have a good feeling this time. The guys at PalmInsider are having a contest that ends the 15th. They are giving away an unlocked Palm Treo 650. Rules are simple. Sign up for their forum and post a picture of your Palm stuff on the board. If you dont want to play, send some possitive vibes my way. I have been wanting a Treo 650 for a year or more. May 04, 2006
My Space.... Is NOT EXACTLY... Your Space!
Apparently MySpace, the social hot spot for 65 million on the Web, changed, then changed again, its terms and conditions giving it broad rights to the content posted by members even after they removed that content from the Web site, according to a child advocate Web site and a report in The Register. Exactly why I dont use these amateur excuses for social networking. A bunch of blathering teenagers posting pictures their mamas dont know about, and talking about sex. Wow! This is cool
The folks over at Blue Nomad have a new backup solution for Treo 600 and 650 users, where the owners of the popular smartphones don't even need to think about backing up their data. BackupBuddy.Net, in public beta, automatically and continuously works in the background to protect data by sending it to the software developer's remote data center wirelessly over the Internet. I wonder if it would work with a Wifi based Palm? May 03, 2006
Nice piece of software...
Opera Software today released Opera Mini 2.0, the new version of the tiny and fast Web browser that runs on almost every mobile phone. With over 2.5 million users since its first release in January 2006, Opera Mini has revolutionized mobile Web browsing. Opera Mini 2.0 further improves the Web surfing experience for any mobile phone user by enabling them to download MP3s, images and other Web content directly to their mobile phone. Additional features include quick and easy mobile shopping, improved design, bookmark speed dials, and more. I downloaded Opera Mini today for my Palm Lifedrive. Though the product is designed for Mobile phones, it works just fine using a wifi connection. Nice product, super fast. If you use a Palm device, or one of the supported mobile phones, give it a spin. April 23, 2006
This is pretty funny!
Steve Jobs presenting to the Cuppertino City Council on Apple's plans to build a new campus in Cuppertino. The man is pretty slick. He manages to drop a few hints to the council about how Apple is Cuppertino's biggest tax payer... The implication being that he expects some breaks along the way as Apple moves forward with their plans. The man is smart, you got to give it to him.... April 22, 2006
Sex Sells
Via Palm Addicts, I find this new Mobile Focussed Magazine:
And tiazelmira might have just found some competition, UK Style. April 05, 2006
Gmail not working in Firefox
Anyone else having a problem accessing Gmail from Firefox? This is HUGE news
With the introduction of Apple's Dual Core Intel based product, the natural question on all us Geeks minds was, "Will the new Macs run Windows?" ![]()
More and more people are buying and loving Macs. To make this choice simply irresistible, Apple will include technology in the next major release of Mac OS X, Leopard, that lets you install and run the Windows XP operating system on your Mac. Called Boot Camp (for now), you can download a public beta today. As elegant as it gets The choice between buying a Mac Notebook and a PC one, just got a LOT easier, and some people in Austin are getting very nervous at this point. March 31, 2006
This is a kick a$$ piece of Software
I am gearing up for one of the most important presentations of my career next week. (Making a presentation to a group of Angel Investors to get funding for a new company). I have spent this week working on the presentation and polishing it. I have always hated making formal presentations for a variety of reasons, the main one is that I dont have a remote control for my notebook and if the people I am making the presentation for dont either, it means approaching the laptop and clicking each time I want to change slides. As you can see by the graphic above, it works on just about any piece of tech you own that had bluetooth. I could actually use the software on my Moto RAZR! Hehe... (Which might even be cooler), but I love the way it allows you to preview things on screen as you are working your way through a presentation. There is a great review of the product here. March 28, 2006
Skylook.... Trust Me, if you use Skype...
I love great and proactive customer service. Remember this piece from the other day?
March 27, 2006
Okay, I have found my next PDA!
Happy Birthday Palm!
10 Years of Palm devices, incredible! Listen to the Podcast. ![]() My first PDA was an Apple Newton, and while I still think Apple did it better than anyone since, I have been using a Palm device since 1998. I currently use a Palm Lifedrive, and despite some quirks, it is my favorite device since the Newton. I am negotiating a deal for a new alliance with HP, and may get my hands on one of HP's new convergent devices soon, but I still love Palm for it's power and simplicity. March 26, 2006
Taking Skype to the NEXT level!
I am one of those people who is constantly looking for tools to improve my productivity. I have been a user of Skype, for some time now, and have both the Skype In and Skype Out services. I use skype to keep in touch with business and family contacts in the U.S. and find that it is a cost effective way to keep in touch from Costa Rica. I just discovered a new tool today that I find absolutely incredible. Skylook, is an add-in for Microsoft Outlook that provides some pretty amazing features, including delivering Skype voice mails to your in-box and archiving Skype chats and calls. I am entering my 14 day trial today, and will probably justify buying it. So far, I am very impressed. March 23, 2006
This is a cool piece of tech!
![]() Ever wanted a person assistant for your Palm? Well, "she" has arrived. March 17, 2006
Apple to Market
Will Apple answer Microsoft on Origami? Hard to say, but this is an interesting article:
My guess is that they will... Apple fans have been speculating for years on an Apple Branded tablet. With Apple's industrial design wizardtry, their existing portfolio of Newton patents, and the tremendous engineering resources at their disposal, I would not be surprised to see something like the mockup posted above. Now wouldn't that be something? March 16, 2006
Lifedrive Versus Origami (UMPC)
The discussions have already started about the Palm Lifedrive vs. The new Ultra Mobile PC.
In the last few weeks, easily the biggest story in the mobile device market has been the announcement of the first generation of Ultra Mobile PCs (UMPCs). Read the whole article, it makes some good points... My own experience with the Lifedrive has been mixed. It is a neat device to be sure. The 4GB hard drive makes it easy to carry oodles of documents and reference material with me. I have about two hours of MP3s stored on an SD card, several of my favorite music videos and tons of reference and business material on the LD's built in hard drive. The biggest problem with the LD is stability... yes, I know that the LD 2.0 Update helped a lot of people with this, but for me it remains a problem. My LD will reboot at least once a day, often wiping out the LD's preference files. The resets dont seem to affect the installed applications or other data, but rekeying my reg codes and "recustomizing the device has become such a pain, that I have had to buy a backup program and run it often to make sure that I don't lose changes. This is a minor inconvienance, but the real pain is the LOOOOONG reboot time for these devices. We are talking about two minutes or more, each time the device resets and then another two minutes to run a restore from my last backup. The other issue I have with the LD is the lack of TRUE RAM. The device uses the hard drive as Virtual RAM, and this is slow. By using Ludus Tech's Sharkcache, I have increased speed to an acceptable level, but the device is still slow when compared with my old Tungsten 3. Finally, there is battery life. The Lifedrive has decent battery life if used mostly as a PDA. When using Wifi extensively or playing multimedia content stored on the built in hard drive, the LD will suck juice. These issues could have been addressed by adding more physical memory to cache the hard drive files. I agree with Ed that the Lifedrive is a worthy opponent to the first UMPC devices, but all things considered, it wont take much to provide an alternative to the Lifedrive. 1. Provide at least 5 hours of battery life. The other big dissadvantage that Palm has is the lack of multitasking ability. UMPC out of the box, beats the LD in this aspect. I dont have any immediate plans to give up my LD for a UMPC. For the moment, it does most of what I need it to do as a companion to my main computer, an IBM T40 Thinkpad. But I will consider a UMPC when HP or Dell improves on the first version. Ah... a UMPC iPaq, now that is worth dreaming about. March 11, 2006
Battery Manufacturers will not like this....
I recently paid $125 for a new battery for my IBM Thinkpad, after a little more than a year, the old one would not last more than an hour. This story, is exciting in its implications: Soon you could be running your laptop computer all day without a recharge as commercial versions of fuel cells go on sale. Being able to use my notebook for over 5 hours without a recharge would be a major blessing. I have heard that there are other battery technologies in labs today that could offer incredible productivity gains, but that they are being held back by battery manufacturers. I dont know if this is true or not, but any advances are welcome. March 09, 2006
The Ultra Mobile PC - It's Here....
And like Paul... I am not impressed, at least yet.... The new Microsoft Site features some snazzy looking hardware, and the typical hype, but at this point, I see it as a repackaged Tablet PC. What it looks like at this point, is that Microsoft created a shell to run on top of Windows XP, and removed the keyboard. From Microsoft's Origami Blog: Of course XP has been out for quite some time, so did Microsoft actually announce something new? Why yes, we did. We announced the Microsoft Touch Pack which is a new set of software built exclusively for UMPCs. That means only OEMs who ship UMPCs can preinstall the Touch Pack. So there you have it... what's new... A Shell running on top of Windows XP Tablet Edition, not that revolutionary.... The promise of this device is if they can achieve the same small form factor, LOOOOONG battery life, (I have heard that this version has only three hours battery life), and sell for under $1000. Anything less and it is just a new Tablet form factor. March 07, 2006
The new Ultra Mobile PC in Action
If you can't wait until March 9th to see what Microsoft is up to with their Origami concept, check out these videos on a special Intel site. An "official" G Drive?
SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Google Inc. is preparing to offer online storage to Web users, creating a mirror image of data stored on consumer hard drives, according to company documents that were mistakenly released on the Web. Some of us tech savvy people, have been doing this for years using our Gmail accounts. Looks like Google has caught on and decided to join in, instead of fight. It's a good idea. March 01, 2006
Origami...
Looks like the Origami is out of the bag, a little earlier than Microsoft expected. Looks like a pretty cool device if the rumors of it being sold for under $1000 are true. Check out the video... February 28, 2006
$100 For a Leather iPod Case?
Apple has got to be joking... right? February 27, 2006
Mission Accomplished on Mpx 220
Overcame the final barrier. Phone now connects to internet for IE browsing and Email. It simply rocks! The Phone Giveaway continues!
![]() Engadget Mobile continues their phone giveaway. Put your dibs in now, and while you at at, check out the EM site, some cool stuff for techies. u*blog Test Post
Testing a neat new piece of blogging software on the palm. u*blog is a piece of software that runs on your Palm handheld, that allows you to post blog post using the Palm. Hat Tip Palm Addicts, which remains on e of my favorite Palm sites, despite the occassional bit of bad writing. (For those who read PA, you know what I mean.) Occassional bad writing asside, which I myself am guilty of, PA remains on the cutting edge of delivering timely news on handheld technology. February 25, 2006
First Impressions Motorola Mpx 220
I got a chance to play with the Mpx 220 today.
My first impressions are mixed. First the possitive: 1.Yeah its a clamshell, not much different than other clamshells, but it has a nice look too it. Especially the pollished front. It has a pretty sturdy feel to it, despite being feather light. 2.The screen is very bright and vibrant, with good colors and readability. The keyboard and menu keys are backlit, large and have nice travel to them. 3. Setting it up (except for the internet connection) was a piece of cake, and fairly intuitive. I put my SIM card into the phone, went through the basic setup and fired up the phone. Everything worked out of the box as expected. The only issue I am having IS the internet configuration which is a bitch, probably due as much to Costa Rica's GPRS setup as to the usual bloated Windows Mobile setup routines. 4. Setting up Activesync was likewise a piece of cake, once I had paired the phone with my computer using bluetooth. The sync went without a hitch, loading all of my contacts onto the phone. 5. For anyone familiar with Pocket PC or Windows Mobile, using the phone is pretty straightforward, with some nice features when it comes to dialing (you can start entering a number or a name and the phone will suggest names from the phone book). 6. The "Today Screen," keeps my appointements and task in front of me, so I dont need to consult my Palm Lifedrive for a quick review of my schedule or priorities. 7. Reception seems to be much better than my V3, probably due to the Mpx's antenna, which while built in also, seems to be bigger. Negatives: 1. There seems to be a problem when using bluetooth. My computer (to which the MPX is paired), prevents me from hearing incoming calls. It may be a setting I need to sort out. 2. The Camera, as most reviews have noted, is nothing spectacular. (See Photo below) 3. The internet connection is a pain in the rear. Overall, I give the phone a B+. It will take a couple of days to sort out all the features and what not. The real beauty of the Motorola V3 is that is just works, and is pretty simple to use. But the Mpx 220 is a "smart phone," and is actually two year old technology, so it may not be 100% fair to compare them apples to apples. The only thing that bugs me at this point, and I am going to play with my bluetooth configuration to see if I can fix that. February 24, 2006
Hmmmm... This looks interesting
RIM gets a reprieve...
I know I am a bit late to the party on this one, since the news came through this morning. In the final analysis, no matter what the decision, RIM may be soon facing deeper challenges than the ones they are facing in court. It is somewhat ironic that Microsoft, who has faced their own legal challenges in recent years, seems to be taking the most aggressive role in redefining the mobile landscape, especially with their new smartphone partnership with Palm. Whatever happens, it can be certain that it will be good for consumer and business users who have made RIM the success that they are. I believe that RIM probably made a mistake by letting this thing drag out as long as they have. During that time, not only has doubt and uncertainty spread amongst their core user base, but Palm and others have made inroads in providing similar services and alternatives. The Mpx 220
I just picked up one of these for a steal,
less than $200. Charging it now, will let you all know what I think after I put it through it's paces. February 22, 2006
Looks like the Mac...
is trying to catch up with Windoze. There was a time when security was a reason to buy a Mac. Looks like that time is slipping away. Google shows...
Some spine... In August, Google was served with a subpoena from the U. S. Department of Justice demanding disclosure of two full months' worth of search queries that Google received from its users, as well as all the URLs in Google's index. We objected to the subpoena, which started a set of legal procedures that puts the issue before the Federal courts. Below is the introduction to our response to the Department of Justice's motion to the court to force us to comply with the subpoena. You can find the entire response here. (This is a 25-page PDF file.) And it's a good thing... Now about China... February 21, 2006
I LOVE giveaways!
Engadget Mobile is giving away cellphones: Ah yes, day 8 of Engadget Mobile's 30 days of cellphone giveaways! Last week we gave away seven Palm Treo 650s or 700ws, but we figured we'd up the ante on the choose-your-own QWERTY smartphone this weeek. That's right, for the next five days we're giving you your choice of a Verizon XV6700, Cingular 8125, Sprint PPC-6700, or T-Mobile MDA. To enter today's drawing all you have to do is post a little something in the comments below and we'll pick a winner at random (yes, your comment must validate). Doesn't get easier than that, right? We'll keep today's contest open for about 24 hours, and we'll announce a winner when we post tomorrow's. Make sure to enter! February 20, 2006
I told you so....
A while back, I talked about RIM's problems, and how there were alternatives in place and on the way. As you can see, I was on target: Microsoft's flurry of announcements out of Barcelona, Spain, last week promising cheaper, faster, easier mobile e-mail might have awakened the world at large to the benefits of push e-mail and the load of trouble BlackBerry vendor Research in Motion Ltd. (RIM) is up against. February 19, 2006
Great Offline Reader Application
This is a great piece of software for your Palm Handheld, and it is Free! With Mobipocket Reader 5.1 Pro (Freeware), you can read all the ebooks in the Mobipocket ebookstore - including dictionaries, synchronize enews channels, view your personal documents. Great Advice!
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Over the course of writing articles and reading through the forums here, I often wonder what it is that keeps so many people asking for help in finding a PDA that will best fit their lifestyle. I can attest, it was a lot harder even two years ago with companies such as Sony (who put out different models every three months or so) and HP who would flood the market with so many devices and different configurations. Read it all, it has some great tips, and will likely save you some money and heartache if you are looking to buy a mobile system. February 14, 2006
The next big thing in blogging...
My first post to my blog was a little paragraph about my obsession with cycling, and I remember feeling a little ... let down. Sure, it was remarkably easy. Write. Click a button. Reload. Cool! But then what? It wasn't until someone left a comment that I was hooked. An audience! Someone is reading! Looks like the next big thing in blogging... Why bother?
I realize Verizon has one of the fastest cellular based data networks in the country with their EVDO system, but with this: Verizon users have been complaining for years that this carrier disables Dial-Up Networking (DUN) on many of the devices it offers. Kind of treatment, and with them crippling client's phones, why would anyone sign up for their services. Encode videos to play on your 5G iPod
If like me you have been struggling to find video content for your 5G iPod, I may have just found a SWEEET solution for you. Check out this FREE video encoding program. According to their web page, the program can rip video for the iPod as well as various handheld devices, give it a look.
February 13, 2006
Treo 700W Killer?
This thing may be the Treo killer. The problem with Palm is that they do not listen very well to feedback from their customers. The fact that there are no wifi card drivers for the award winning Treo 650 is a perfect example of this. HP has made several attempts at entering the Windows smartphone space and each iteration has gotten more interesting. It it doubtful that I will get my hands on one of these any time soon, but if it pans our as advertised, it could be the Treo Killer, and it could definitely give RIM's Blackberry a run for the money, with Microsoft's new push email technology. February 12, 2006
The Treo 700W
If you are thinking about buying a new smartphone, you have to check out this presentation. Verizon does not exist in Costa Rica, so I cant get one of these, but it is pretty slick. February 02, 2006
Paper vs. Technology
I have been trying to bring Fred into the 21st century slowly but surely. When I first talked to him about blogging, he saw it as a big waste of time. Last year I convinced him to convert one of his online ventures, CA+ into a Blog. While it is still in it's baby step phase, it is a great Blog on business in Latin America and will grow. I simply need to Convince Fred to post more often. I am probably one of the biggest technology users I know. I was trained years ago to be a Dayplanner user. I was one of those cats who never went anywhere without his Franklin Dayplanner, and I swore by it. Using a Dayplanner was and is one of the reasons I don't have much stress, and I am able to stay organized. Just about every stressed out business person I know, is stressed because of a lack of organization and planning. They may know where they are trying to go, but have no clue as to how they will get there. After using a Dayplanner for several years, I invested in the original Apple Newton. I was a faithful upgrader until Steve Jobs, curse the day he did it, killed the Newton. I moved to the Palm Pilot, tried several other platforms, including several iterations of the Pocket PC, and finally came back to Palm. My latest device is the Palm Lifedrive, which I have written about several times here on ISOU. The Lifedrive is a wonderful device, and with built in Wifi and Bluetooth, a 4GB hard drive to store ALL of my documents, and a large 320x480 screen, it has become close to a laptop replacement for me. More importantly it is my digital notepad, agenda and phone book. I have added numerous programs to the Lifedrive that allow me to organize my day and thoughts, communicate wherever I am, (via Wifi when available and when not via my cell phone's GPRS connection), and its built in SMS program makes sending short text messages to colleagues, friends and associates a painless process, instead of trying to enter the messages on the tiny keyboard of my Motorola V3. Fred stands by his scraps of paper, but I can do something Fred can not. I can find any scrap of information, email, document, etc. in seconds on my Lifedrive. Sometimes being able to find information fast can make the difference between closing a deal or not. Using programs like Agendus, I am able to not only effectively manage my time and tasks, but keep track of billable hours and associate contacts with projects, other contacts etc. I can even use the built in voice recorder to attach voice notes to contacts, tasks or meetings. Why take notes in a meeting when you can just record it and store it with the appointment in the agenda. The Palm becomes a handheld relational database of surprising power. Add to this the multimedia and multi document format reading capabilities and you have a powerful portable reference platform. There are solutions available, some of them free like PalmPDF, that allow you to open and read PDF formatted documents better than the Adobe Acrobat Reader for the Palm. The latest version of Documents to Go Premium also features the ability to open PDF Documents. Documents to Go also provides support for NATIVE Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents, including the ability to edit them, something Windows Mobile does not do very well. In a typical scenario for me, I might be having lunch at a restaurant in the city when I get a call from a client requesting a document or asking me about an email they sent me. If the restaurant has a Wifi network, I simply take out the Lifedrive, log on to my email and answer their question or send them the document they requested, which is synchronized from my Notebook to my Lifedrive's hard drive each time I sync the Palm. If there is no Wifi, I can connect to the GPRS network using my cell phone and complete the same task. In a crunch I can even log on to Yahoo Messenger or MSN Messenger and chat with colleagues back in the office or their homes. The bottom line is that I am never more than a few seconds away from the information I need. While I carry my iPod with me just about everywhere (See my typical out of the office kit photo below), the Lifedrive is also a multimedia powerhouse. I often rip full length movies to the Lifedrive and watch them on the built in media player while relaxing in the evenings or waiting for a meeting. My ipod, Motorola V3, Lifedrive and wireless keyboard, along with my "kit bag."
Tomorrow's political Bloggers... hehe..
Seems like kids are getting an early start in the blogging world... This winter, teenagers at a Chicago high school used their Xanga websites to post obscene and threatening comments about a teacher, in one case suggesting her neck be "slit like a ... chicken." And the hate speech thing should not shock anyone... Just check out their parent's blogs on the Right or Left. hehe.. Time to buy Palm Stock
Looks like Palm might be a good buy. Things getting interesting in the RIM case
The U.S. Justice Department urged a federal judge on Wednesday to refrain from any plans to shut the BlackBerry portable e-mail service over patent infringement until the government gets more assurances its users will be exempted. I have a sneaking suspicion that RIM is going to survive this challenge. In my opinion IT Managers and Corporate decision makers should be looking at alternatives, of which there are many... January 31, 2006
The New Skype
I just signed up for three months voice mail and inbound calling and a couple hours of outbound. Not that I need a new IM Program running, but as more and more of my business shifts to relationships in the United States, it is probably a good idea to give U.S. folks some more advanced options on contacting me. I still have not figured out why Skype has a Pocket PC client but no Palm client. This is probably due to the fact that Palm is shipping a lot of units these days without voice capability, but it would seem that this represents a missed opportunity for them. Anyway, if any of you get the urge and want to holler at me, my skype ID is davidsanderson. January 30, 2006
Sounds to me....
Like Bill is trying to sell Windows Mobile. NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Microsoft founder and Chairman Bill Gates believes cell phones are a better way than laptops to bring computing to the masses in developing nations, according to a published report. The idea is pretty ridiculous as far as I am concerned. A better idea would be to create something like the Palm Lifedrive, with a 2GB flash drive,wifi and a keyboard. I know what Mrs. Anderson will be asking for...
Some of the girly girls we hang around with were just dying for the new pink Razr V3c from Verizon, so Gizmodo got its greasy paws on one last weekend. It’s the usual Motorola Razr stuff, with its effortless good looks but labyrinthine user interface. Its 1.3 megapixel camera is bad (see pic after the jump), but not awful like the one on the original Razr. But the thing sounds great, with nice side-tone (you can hear yourself, eliminating the dreaded "cellphone yell"). It also gets good reception even in the boondocks, and its color is, well, pink. January 28, 2006
Brighthand Reviews the Treo 700w
Brighthand does a review of the controversial Palm Treo 700W.
Palm, Inc. recently stunned the world by coming out with its first smartphone running Windows Mobile 5.0 Phone Edition, not the Palm OS. Having recently migrated back to Palm after a brief flirtation with Windows Mobile, I can tell you that you could not even GIVE me one of these things. Not to mention that the cell phone system the phone uses is not available in Costa Rica, or even regionaly. Why Palm decided to go CDMA with their first Windows Mobile Product, is completely beyond me. Anyway, if you live in the U.S. and are considering a smart phone, give the article a read. The Brighthand people are my number one source of information on handheld technology. January 27, 2006
This is pretty cool...
As most of my regular readers know, I like to mix it up here. Politics, Life in Costa Rica, Beautiful women, Life in General, Commentary... More beautiful women... and TECH. ISOU is sort of the Maxim Magazine of Blogs. Hehe... Anyway, my recent post about the woes of Blackberry users has been picked up by an IT site. Cool stuff....
The software has modules to assist you with conference calling and SMS messaging as well. But the thing that is most impressive is how easy it is to configure your GPRS or Edge Connection. No manual IP addresses, no configuring ports, nothing, just click your way to a connection with your bluetooth or IR enabled phone and you are set. The number of countries and providers is Huge, and the configuration takes just seconds. Who needs a blackberry... Hehe... My One the Go Tools: Palm Lifedrive Mobile Manager I also use Snappermail on occassion. Snappermail is a robust email client that compares favorably with the best desktop applications. It's handling of large atttachments, combined with the 4GB storage on my Lifedrive, makes a powerful mobile communications combination when I need to update clients with new documents, or revise contracts or proposals. January 26, 2006
This....
Is a COOL video... (Warning... HUGE), Palm's Corporate vision. Very nice.... Makes me want to buy ANOTHER Palm! January 25, 2006
Yowzers!
I have been thinking of adding a Treo 650 to my arsenal of communications tools. Checked the price here in Costa Rica, at one of my favorite cell shops....
Opera Mini is out
For any of you with a Java enabled cell phone, or handheld with java installed, Opera has just officially released their mini browser. I already have two browsers running on my Palm and see no need for a third, so I will pass. I ran the beta version of the Opera Mini browser on my HP Windows Mobile handheld, and it was pretty slick, but I prefer Xiino on my palm. It's fast, has a small footprint and has not crashed on me once since I installed it on my Palm. Palm's own browser, Blazer, is buggy on the Lifedrive, prone to crashes and errors loading large or complicated pages. I have had enough problems with Blazer to relegate it to backup browser if something does not load right in Xiino. (Something which to date), has not happened. Mobile browsing is always a challenge. Small screens, lack of standards support, and memory limitations on handheld devices and cell phones limits one's ability to have a robust browsing experience. There are some tools out there like Skweezer, and Google's new mobile portal that make the experience a bit more tolerable, but a small screen and the limitations of mobile devices make usability for anything other than basic browsing, a challenge. I'm Sorry....
But I find the whole Blackberry thing to be hillarious.
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - It's not the sub-zero temperatures that have the corporate kingpins shivering in Davos this year but the prospect of life without their "Blackberry." These people have known for a couple years now that RIM lost the first lawsuit, and yet they continued to buy the devices and base their communication strategy on their use. The most ridiculous thing about all this, is that there are more than adequate alternatives. Palm's smart phones all have push email solutions available via software ad-ons, and are in many ways more powerful, flexible devices. The Blackberry is a fad, just like two way pagers were a few years ago. If I am building a mobile communication strategy, (And I will be for a client... very shortly), I would base the strategy on open standards like IMAP and POP, and with a robust hardware platform like the Treo smartphone or HP6515.
Both of these solutions are based on standards and are configurable to provide the same functionality of the Blackberry, with strong additional features like Agenda management and third party applications that provide other functionality not offered by the Blackberry. In Costa Rica, where the Blackberry is not available, I am able to utilize the same kind of mobile functionality using my Palm Lifedrive and Motorola V3 RAZR phone. The Lifedrive's 4GB drive and multiple wireless features allow me to not only stay in touch while on the move, but to carry ALL of my important business documents with me and Mail them in standard Word, Excell, Powerpoint or PDF format while on the move. I have had numerous scenarios where I was out of the office and recieved a call requesting a copy of a document, or a quick edit to one. I was able to find the document on the Lifedrive and email it using a GPRS connection and my RAZR. January 22, 2006
Going Unplugged!
This is a great idea: HaggiZ writes "Here is alternative to the clutter of USB cables and keys sitting on your desk. Now Belkin has announced their own wire-free USB setup. iPod Update Available
If you are running a 5th Generation iPod, there is an update available here. According to Apple, the update addresses the following: What's new in iPod Updater 2006-01-10: * Support for the iPod Radio Remote for iPod with video and iPod nano The History of the Palm Pilot
For wireheads like me, this is some pretty interesting stuff. January 20, 2006
This my friends....
Is exactly WHY I went back to Palm. January 19, 2006
Now this is COOL!
As much as I travel, I am always facing the problem of being sure that wherever I am I can connect and get work done. Because of my High Tech Goodie bag (Palm Lifedrive, iPod, Palm Wireless Keyboard, Motorola V3 Cell phone), I am usually able to get connected using GPRS and download mail and whatnot. What hurts is I dont have access to some of my tools from my PC, and on those rare occassions when I need to scare up an internet cafe to work, this can be an issue. ISSUE SOLVED!, and I finaly found a good use for that expensive thumb drive I carry around with me all the time. Alternative to Gmail?
Want an alternative to Gmail with a huge email box? Try these people. I am testing it right now and seems to work well. January 18, 2006
Google goes mobile!
And speaking of Google, this is kind of neat for us Road Warriors and mobile types... Google has created a mobile version of their personalized Google homepage. The new service puts your gmail, weather, rss newsfeeds and stocks up in one place on a mobile friendly page.
Google has also launched a new service that will format any URL of a large webpage for small mobile device screens. The service is located here: www.google.com/gwt/n Back to the Top of the Charts!
For several months now ISOU has been invisible to Google. Since the site went down last year and was rebuilt, Google has not been indexing the site. I had the google search function implemented, followed the same processes I used before to get ISOU up in the rankings, and yet I could not even find current articles on Google. Last week I set forth to fix this problem. I joined a Google Usenet list and posted about my problem. Answers ranged from, "you've been blacklisted," to "Make sure you dont use a robots.txt, file." After asking my web mistress to remove the Robots file, I went back to google and created a site map for my site. Slowly but surely, the big ole' Google Monster woke up to my presence. Today I finaly reached a milestone...
That's right, ISOU is first on Google and Yahoo when you search for the term, "ISOU." Right On! Update: What's funny, and AWESOME is that the search term "Utopia" on MSN search results in ISOU coming up as the second site listed. January 14, 2006
Despite...
![]() I just picked up an H500 after looking at several new bluetooth headsets for my Black V3, and this little wonder truly ROCKS! It is so light you don't even feel it on your ear. The sound quality is excellent and the COOL FACTOR is off the scale. I put the thing on and I feel like a Special Ops soldier or something. If you are looking for a wireless headset for your bluetooth phone, this is it baby! January 12, 2006
You think....
This:
might have something to do with THIS? January 11, 2006
Linux on your iPod
This is a pretty cool concept. Install Linux on your iPod!
I see a sudden increase....
In sales of iPods in Costa Rica. Because the tummy bare style is all the rage here. January 10, 2006
Now that's what I am talkin' about!
I just heard the news.... And I gotta figure out a way to get one of these... It's official, Apple will whip Dell and other Notebook Manufacturers like an ugly stepchild with this monster... January 09, 2006
Imitation as flattery
Look like anything you've seen before? January 08, 2006
This....
January 07, 2006
Apple's Impact at CES
For a company that did not even appear at CES, Apple is having a lot of impact.
January 06, 2006
Google on the Move!
Motorola Plans Cell-Phone Google Feature Google - Set to take over the world, one platform at a time! I love it. Looks like Palm's venture into the "Dark Side," is not paying off!
eh.... There is a reason I went back to Palm after spending a year with a Pocket PC device. I can understand Palms decision to produce a Microsoft Powered Treo, but I suspected it would NOT be the big hit many thought it would. January 04, 2006
Is Google about to release a PC?
If this is true, Microsoft executives have to be wetting their pants. This article from back in September may have had a ring of truth to it. With Microsoft's most recent OS flaw making news all over the world. Security fatigue is setting in for a lot of people. Apple has had a window (No pun intended) of opportunity for some time now to take advantage of consumers dissatisfaction with Windows. They have not taken advantage of it. While OSX remains a more robust and stable operating system, and the Mac platform more elegant, Apple has failed to capitalize on these advantages and to expand their base. The revolutionary iMac remains overpriced compared to PC's with similar configurations. Google's strong market presence, cutting edge technology and confidence among consumers, could signal a devestating blow to both Redmond and Cuppertino, if marketed right, sold at the right price point and if it includes applications suitable for everyday use. This will be one to watch. January 03, 2006
Welcome to Netscape dot Com Readers
A special welcome to the visitors who are coming over from Netscape's Gadgets and Tech news page. Hope you will chose to come back and explore a bit more. All the more reason to return to Apple!
How does Microsoft avoid class action lawsuits? NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - The new year is off to a rocky start at Microsoft, where security experts are scrambling to confront a potentially massive virus threat to Windows PCs. I mean really? January 01, 2006
For ALL us Toy Freaks!
Sammy from Palm Addicts is giving away some goodies! They are ALWAYS giving away some goodies. I just tossed my hat in the ring for the Treo 600! But I will take anything Sammy gives away! (wink). December 29, 2005
Tech Thrills
I finaly saw Sin City, last night. I guess I am one of the last people on the planet to see the movie. It was awesome. Watched it on my iPod. Even on that tiny screen, the movie rocked. And what movie featuring the lovely Jessica Alba (Pic for Boyd), would not rock?
The violence was over the top in places, but it was a visualy stunning movie. Oh, and Rosario Dawson was pretty hot to! (wink) Have I mentioned that Apple Sucks? The "video iPod" uses a propriatory format for videos that.... SURPRISE, requires you to buy Quick Time Pro, to convert your movies. Thats right, you cant just rip DVD's or DIVX movies to the ole iPod. December 28, 2005
Time to Upgrade
I love my RAZR V3, but this new version looks like the cats meow.
December 19, 2005
This is a cool piece of software...
In a lot of ways I am like the kid with the tricked out car who is always attempting to sqeeze more horsepower and more flash out of my wheels. My Tech is like that car, and I am always tuning and pruning, trying to sqeeze the most productivity possible out of my toys, and to make them ever more intuitive. When I left the Pocket PC behind, I knew that in coming back to the Palm Platform, that I would not be satisfied with the out of the box productivity apps. I used Pocket Informant on the Pocket PC, and I knew that once I went back to Palm, there was only one choice... Agendus! Agendus simply ROCKS. It gives me a world class and customizable datebook and contact application, and seamlessly integrates email and SMS, two of the functions I use most often on my handheld. After adding Agendus 10 to my Lifedrive, I trully have what amounts to a portable office that I can slip in my pocket. December 18, 2005
One other thing...
![]() On my Christmas short list... If anyone out there from Motorola is googling the New Q Phone, and wants to send me a unit, I would be most appreciative. Hehe... I am one of the people that sets trends in Costa Rica by the way, not to mention running a very popular blog, so if any of you marketing types wants to get some free pub for this baby, drop me a line! A week with the Lifedrive
Okay, I have had a little over a week with the Palm Lifedrive. Following are my observations:
First impressions... 1. The device is easy to use, powerful and flexible. 2. I love the fact that I can carry all of my Word, Powerpoint and Excell documents with me in Native format, and open them with DTG. 3. Multimedia capabilities are very powerful. I have dowloaded several full length movies to the device and can view them with the built in media player. The Lifedrive Manager provides the option of converting the movie to a format best viewable on the device or copying it in its original format. A third party open source media player with a ton of video translators, makes viewing the video transparent, regardless of format. 4. The screen, (320X480), is crisp, bright and responsive. 5. Speed is quite acceptable, despite the fact that the device loads most software from its 4GB hard drive on execution. This has been a complaint of some, that the device is too slow. I have found that other than a slight delay in loading application, that the device's speed is quite acceptable. Third party applications like SharkCache, enable you to speed up this function as well. 6. Palms implementation of bluetooth connectivity to cell phones remains superior. I was able to connect to my new Motorola RAZR and send and recieve SMS messages OUT OF THE BOX. The Pocket PC does not even recognize the RAZR by model and has limited capability (I have never been able to find even a third party SMS client for the Pocket PC that would work with the RAZR V3). I have run into a few things I dont like. 1. I have never been able to connect with a Linksys 802.11b Wireless Router with any of my Palms. Not sure why this is. An update to the Lifedrive software suppossedly made it more compatable with Linksys newer 802.11G routers, but it still fails to connect to the older router. 2.The included Blazer web browser chokes on some large or complex websites, including ISOU. 3. I dont really like (understand) the filesystem yet. For example, I am not sure which new programs can be installed directly to my 1GB memory card or to the hard drive. I am still playing with this. Other than that, the thing ROCKS, and I am not even looking back at my brief flirtation with the Devil. If you are looking for a mobile device to replace your notebook for short trips and day to day use, you may find it in the Lifedrive. December 17, 2005
Gmail....
December 13, 2005
Must Have Software for the Mobile Pro
I just picked up a new piece of software for my Palm Lifedrive. And I think I have found the killer app. It is called Mobile High Speed for Palm, and if you use your Palm handheld to connect to the Internet via GPRS, you NEED this application. Configuring the Palm to use GPRS in Costa Rica is a pain in the ass, but using this software I was up and running with a stable and fast connection in about 30 seconds. The application does all the configuration for you AUTOMATICALLY, and has scripts for hundreds of GSM Cellular service providers and most mobile phones, including my trusty Black RAZR.
Surfing the web is now as easy as turning on the Lifedrive, firing up the Mobile High Speed software, clicking the connect button and then switching to my email program or the Blazer Browser to surf the web. NICE! I now have arguably the sexiest phone/handheld combo currently available... and oh yeah, I can be productive too. December 10, 2005
Palm Redeux
November 03, 2005
So Typical Microsoft....
I have been using Microsoft Money, for some time now. Due to the international nature of my business, I use a number of currencies, including the Dollar, Colone (Costa Rica), Quetzal (Guatemala) among others. While money does a fairly accurate job of conversion rates and what not, the Pocket version of money only syncs with my various dollar accounts. This is a pain when traveling to Guatemala as I am doing next week, as I like to use a Guatemalan debit card and move money into my local currency account. While I have visibility of such movements in my PC application, I like to keep track of money on the run. The Pocket PC enables me to keep track of my spending and available balances on credit cards, debit cards, checking accounts etc. Today I found a solution:
Spb, a great developer of Pocket PC software has a great application called Spb Finance, which syncs all of my accounts. Today I synchronized all my accounts and am ready for my road trip. October 25, 2005
IBM Thinkpad T-42
Anyone have any experience with this beauty? I am thinking of buying one with the following specs: IBM THINKPAD T42 ( Pentium M 1.8GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 512MB, 80GB, Combo CD-RW/DVD-ROM, 14.1" TFT SXGA (1400x1050), 64MB ATI Radeon 9600, Wireless 802.11a/b/g, Bluetooth/ Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, Ultranav, Secure Chip, LECTOR DE HUELLA DIGITAL, Bateria 6 Celdas, Win Xp Pro espanol, teclado espanol) Any thoughts? September 28, 2005
Just got my dream toy!
I just picket up my new cell phone, the one I have wanted for about three months. And I can't wait to PLAY, unfortunately the vendor advised charging it overnight before using it... I thought that went out with old style batteries! Hehe... Anyway, I am ready to head to Guatemala in style. Speaking of which, I have a new Blog that I will be documenting my adventures in Guatemala, it can be found here.
It's a kick ass piece of technology, and probably the hottest phone I have ever owned. The V80 (My current phone) was always good to illicit a few Ohhs and Ahhs when I whipped it out on social occassions. This phone is likely to be a great conversation starter as well. August 31, 2005
Another Cool Application
I found this application tonight, called Pocket Controller Professional. It allows me to connect to my Windows Mobile device right on the desktop and control all the functions of the device using my mouse and keyboard. This is a cool little application, very sexy as the image above indicates. It even has skins for your particular model of Pocket PC. What I love is that I can use it to send SMS messages without having to de-cradle the device, or use my stylus to write the message. I use SMS messages daily to stay in touch with my team, and this application will make the process a lot easier. August 26, 2005
Early Christmas Present?
Anyone want to hook up your favorite Blogger with an early Christmas present?
The Sony Walkman Phone...
August 25, 2005
Welcome Cnet News.com Readers
I would have never expected that my little personal reminiscing from last night would have made News.com, but hey who am I to question success. I hope that you will stick around and read other articles from ISOU. Welcome, and please feel free to comment.
Test Post
I am testing with another great piece of offline Blogging software called Qumana. Lets see how well it performs. Powered By Qumana
August 24, 2005
Google Chat
Google Inc. will make its first direct challenge to the broader communications industry today when it introduces an instant-messaging and voice communication service for personal computers. And Google continues it's march towards desktop dominance. I just downloaded the new Desktop Search Beta the other day, and it rocks. Can't wait to see this new chat client. Update: Well it is downloaded, and invitations are sent to most of the people in my GMail address book. Waiting to get my first call to test the alleged superior voice quality. Download it and add insearchofutopia@gmail.com to your buddy list, then give me a call. Lets take this baby for a spin. August 22, 2005
New Blogging Software
I am trying out this software called ECTO. Lets see if it publishes. Actually it is pretty cool stuff. Need to play with it a bit, but it published to the blog with ZERO manual reading time, so I guess it isn't too bad. Will be putting the trial version through its paces over the next couple of days. The idea is a WYSIWYG interface for your blog.
August 18, 2005
The Toy I MUST have!
August 09, 2005
Resistance is Futile!
Spyware MORE than a nuisance!
One of my most valuable online subscriptions is to eWeek online. I keep up to date on the important events happening in the world of High Technology. I have been watching the developments in the battle against "Malware," for a while now, and this is the scariest story I have seen so far: From eWeek online: Read the whole thing. I have never been able to figure out why people dont defend their computers. I run Microsoft Anti Spyware, AVG Anti Virus, and Sygate's excellent personal firewall, all free products that automatically update themselves. It is more or less install and forget. I also have enabled the Security features of Windows XP, dont use Internet Explorer for anything other than sites that idiots have coded not to work with other browsers, and then only when I HAVE to. All of these are simple processes that can be executed in less than an hour of download, installation and configuration time. More needs to be done to prosecute the people who create and distribute this software. But I am also of the mind that Computer Manufacturers and Microsoft need to do a better job of safeguarding systems OUT OF THE BOX, and that people who turn this protection off should be prosecuted as well, especially those who's machines are turned into SPAM spewing Zombies, that infect others machines. ISP's also need to step up and monitor more closely what is going on on their networks. The Technology exist today to identify Robot machines and shut down their outgoing connection, why isn't this being done? August 08, 2005
Special Request - Sticky Post
Grupo Utopia is in a competitive bid situation for a MAJOR project in Guatemala. The project is the kind I am well known for implementing, and will not only be a major client for us, but a major feather in our cap. I believe strongly in the power of prayer, especially when it comes from many people with no direct interest in the results. On Thursday and Friday of last week, the potential client started reference checking on us. I know because several references called to inform me that the call had went well. In other news, I have convinced the owner of the second largest newspaper in Costa Rica to start a blog on Business in Central America, a very appropriate time with the passage of CAFTA. Grupo Utopia and I will be consulting for him to help launch the blog, it will be online in a week or so. I hope you will add the blog to your blog roll and help him get some momentum! August 04, 2005
Microsoft Shows it's Arrogance Again!
From Publish Online: Opinion: There are different theories about why Microsoft is not implementing W3C standards, but the sad truth is that Web developers have to build sites with IE in mind. Microsoft is about to release IE 7.0, and if you've been hoping that this new release would solve your development problems, prepare to be disappointed. This is just another example of Microsoft trying to dictate standards to the rest of the world, most of the time to their advantage. Do yourself a favor, keep using Firefox! August 03, 2005
Motorola Phone Tools
My readers know how I love my toys. Here in Costa Rica, SMS (Short Messaging Service over GSM Cellular), is one of the most popular forms of business and personal communications. I probably send 50 SMS messages a day, even more than the huge amount of emails I send and receive. The other day I installed the latest version of Motorola's Phone Tools, a Desktop Application that gives you access to the full functionality of your cell phone via cable or Bluetooth connection. I use the program during the day to send and receive SMS messages just like email. It rocks to be able to do this using my PC keyboard instead of the crap text input of my Motorola V80. The image above is the application running on my desktop with the inbox open. July 30, 2005
This is cool...
From Politburo Diktat: This July is the 60th anniversary of the publication, in The Atlantic, of Dr. Vannevar Bush's hugely influential article, "As We May Think." This guy "got it." Some people still don't. We are a technology driven society, and the PC as we know it today will look like a typewritter in comparrison, just a few years from now. Read the whole article. July 29, 2005
Mobility Event in September
The event will focus on mobile solutions based on HP iPaqs, Tablet PC's, Notebooks and other mobile Technology. We are also planning on including vendors with business oriented Wifi and GPRS Cellular connectivity solutions. Event Theme: "Mobility Everywhere!"
It should be another exciting event! If you are a solutions vendor or integrator and are interested in promoting your product in front of decision makers from one of the most technologically savy countries in Latin America, or if you are a business person in Costa Rica and interested in how you can use wireless and mobile technology to advance your business strategy, you can contact us here, for more info. July 24, 2005
Day in the life of a Gadget Freak!
I have to admit that when we first established a relationship with HP and I gave up my ties to Palm, I was at first a bit skeptical about the Windows Mobile platform. My first task was to find suitable applications to enhance the power of the PPC, and I found an excellent Calendar/Agenda program in WebIS's Pocket Informant. Pocket Informant gave me the power and flexibility of an integrated Agenda and Address book. Through WebIS, I also found their outstanding email application, WebIS Mail. The mail application integrates with Pocket Informant, allowing me to keep a running log of emails, and to associate them with contacts and activities. Pocket Informant also allows me to send SMS (Short messages) to others on the local cellular network using my installed SMS package. This is a great way to do "burst communications," with clients and Utopia Team members. I have discovered that this form of communication is much more effective for me as a time saver, and that it allows me to keep a running record of such communications. It took me a while, but I found a great application for SMS for the Pocket PC. It is called SMS Manager, and it functions very similar to email. I still miss the simplicity of Palm's built in SMS application, but SMS Manager has a power and flexibility that I have come to appreciate. The other issue with the Pocket PC is memory management, (It is Windows after all!) And though my device comes with an equal amount of memory to my previous Palm Tungsten 3, the Pocket PC's memory management is nowhere near as efficient. There are a slew of utilities on the Palm side, that allow you to load programs onto SD Cards for example, saving your precious internal memory. While the there are many programs that will load to SD and compact flash cards, they can be wonky when you do so. I have discovered a couple of Great applications to help with the memory management issue. One in particular, Battery Pack Pro, is superb, giving the Pocket PC user fantastic control over memory management and configuration. After two months of using the Pocket PC, I have pretty much forgotten my Palm and feel comfortable with performing 99% of the tasks I formally performed on the Tungsten. In some cases, even more efficiently. June 30, 2005
I have said it before....
I will say it again, "DELL Sucks!" June 21, 2005
The Treo Killer!
Now this is a breakthrough...
From Gillmor: Intel has announced a new chip (Mercury News) that can send and receive signals from a variety of wireless devices -- "part of the quest to create phones that could roam across different types of networks in any part of the world." What will be interesting is watching the reaction to this kind of technology by the big mobile carriers. There is NO reason that with the technology we have today, that one cant make a wireless communication connection almost anywhere in the world, and have it be reliable and reasonably cheap. Wifi and WiMax ammong others are showing the way. Hmmmm, wonder how ICE will react to this kind of technology down the road. June 14, 2005
Apple on Intel...
Smart move... June 11, 2005
Voice over IP with a Handheld
Okay, I just had a conversation with my buddy Ron, who is not only the coolest lawyer I know, but also one of the most wired in people I know in Silicon Valley. Ron works as a Top Executive at one of Silicon Valley's top companies, is a Mac person, and one of the few people I know who has as many tech toys as I do! The voice clarity on the device was nothing less than stunning. 15 minutes latter I get a local call from a client, calling from San Jose, just 10 miles away... The quality sucked! Hehe.. Technology, gotta love it! June 08, 2005
That Explains my Huge Cell Phone Bill! Hehe...
Another reason for us Techies to be a bit paranoid these days... Bluetooth crack gets serious Travel a Lot?
Get one of these... ![]() With Jwire's wireless guides, you will always be on top of where the hot spots are for wireless. Why pay for that phone call when you can use Skype for Pocket PC, to make calls over Voice over IP! AIM Mail
You know I am really enjoying writing about Techie Stuff again. I have long had an AOL Messenger Account, and I got an email tonight from AIM inviting me to use their new AIM Mail service, which is linked tightly with the Instant Messenger client. Microsoft did this with Hotmail, and Yahoo has had it for a while to some degree,but they never really impressed me all that much. The new AIM Mail Service is pretty slick. What they have pretty much done is give you the AOL Mail Service in a webmail client, along with 2 Gigs of storage space. I have to admit, I am pretty damned impressed. They have one upped Google mail in some respects, especially since Google does not "yet," have a chat client. (Something I expect they will fix pretty quickly in the face of this challenge). The service is free, AOL Idiot Proof in it's implementation, and suppossedly has pretty good Spam protection. The last thing I needed was another email account, but I think I will give this one a good workout. I like the whole integration with messenger thing. I also like the clean and functional layout of the mail window, the one button spam reporting and the ease of use. I could prove to be a nice option to use with the small group of people I normally chat with. So if are so inclined, go to AOL's web site and sign up for an Instant Messenger account, the email part is then semi automatic after that. Then hit me up on AIM Messenger. My User name is davidsandersonsj@aim.com. June 06, 2005
The end of an era... Mac moves to Intel!
Well, it has happened... Apple got the world's attention on Monday, saying it will move to Intel processors. I guess the best we can hope for is to see some interesting and less expensive Macs coming out of this. My prediction, you will soon see an Apple Branded Tablet/PDA type product running an intel ARM processor. And the War for the Internet Continues
With idiots who open virus packages serving as front line collaborators with the enemy: Anti-virus researchers are sounding the alert for a massive, well-coordinated hacker attack using three different Trojans to hijack PCs and create botnets-for-hire. In my opinion, anyone stupid enough to get a virus or trojan these days should have their computer taken away from them. With Free Anti Virus and Anti Spyware solutions readilly available, there is simply NO excuse. June 05, 2005
My Killer Mobile App
Some of you guys are aware that I recently made the move from Palm to Pocket PC, specifically the HP iPaq HX-2410.
![]() I have been playing arround with it since I left for Monteverde a few weeks ago. For the most part I have been very satisfied with it, but there was one killer application that was missing... SMS Messaging using bluetooth and my mobile phone. SMS is a critical application here in Costa Rica. High per minute charges on cellular, poor GPRS connectivity for mobile internet, and convienance, make SMS a prefered mode of business communication. My PalmOne T3 had a fine SMS application built in to the OS, but the Pocket PC did not. Even finding an application that was not designed for the Smart Phone version of Mobile Windows, proved quite a challenge. Today I found SMS Manager, a robust SMS application for the Mobile Windows platform, that meets all my needs. June 03, 2005
Networking 101
I was browsing Microsoft's Windows Mobile Page and came across this article. Imagine the last networking event you attended. Now imagine enjoying it. I found it very interesting, because recently I was called an enabler by a good friend of mine BECAUSE I practice this very method of networking. It really doesn't matter whether you carry around the latest piece of Tech or not, the idea of helping others to achieve their goals as part of a networking strategy very much works. One of my Greatest Mentors, the legendary Computer Industry Executive, John Hlavic once told me... "You can get whatever you want out of life... As long as you are willing to help others get what they want." I have lived by that rule for 15 years, and still find it helping me even today. May 18, 2005
Okay... I am begining to regret leaving Palm...
wireless features * Bluetooth® 1.1 wireless processor * Intel® 416MHz XScale™ processor memory * 4GB hard drive (3.85GB accessible to user) battery * Rechargeable Lithium Ion operating system * Palm OS® 5.4 (Garnet) size * 4.76h x 2.87w x 0.74t in. weight * 6.8 oz. / 190 grams display * 320x480 Transflective TFT color touchscreen expansion * Supports SD, SDIO and MultiMediaCards via built-in expansion card slot audio * Stereo audio headset compatible via 3.5mm stereo audio jack - headset sold separately. And I gave up my relationship with Palm to form an alliance with HP a while back. Man, I want one of these! May 09, 2005
Anyone want to bet....
That a new Treo is in the works too? palmOne has announced today the creation of a new category of mobile-computing products - the mobile manager. The first product in this category is expected to be announced later this month. The new line is targeted towards a growing number of people that want access to greater volumes of digital business, personal, entertainment and online content. Anyone want to bet that before the end of the year there will be a new PalmOne smart phone that will have a bigger screen, faster processor and have gigs of memory to carry arround all those MP3s (ahem... business files) May 08, 2005
Do you get the feeling???
That Google is getting creepy with all of its expansion? Palm set to release new Super handheld?
![]() Blackberry Killer? "PalmOne plans to announce later this month its first hard-drive-based product line, broadening its device portfolio and leading another trend in the handheld market. If true, and if Palm can do this without the usual bugs that have been showing up in first generation new products... This may be the product that puts Palm back firmly in the lead in the PDA Market Again. |
2005 Weblog Awards Finalist!
2004 Weblog Awards Finalist!
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