MobileCowboy

Inspired Bikes

2009-10-06T06:06:00.002-05:00

A BR from school linked to this video on Facebook and I had to repost to share it too. It is reminds me of parkour but on a bike.

Enjoy.

Make shift baby monitor

2009-03-28T13:53:00.003-05:00

We were baby sitting today and it was time for the baby to go down for a nap upstairs. We planned on being downstairs and I wanted to be able to hear if the baby was crying or what ever. Since we don't have a baby monitor I took one of our mobile phones and called my phone to create an audio connection. I then muted the microphone on my phone and placed the unmuted phone in the room with the baby. This gave us a make-shift baby monitor. I hear her talk a little before she went to sleep and then heard her talking when she woke up. Success!

All you need to do the same is two mobile phones, preferably on the same mobile network. I know I am probably not the first person to discover this, but I thought I would share anyway. Enjoy.

Ravenstown

2008-12-28T16:11:00.019-05:00

Here are a few pictures taken at Ravenstown a few weeks ago before the home game versus the Eagles.

One of the actual Raven mascots.

An action shot.

A little chat with Gerry Sandusky and Qadry Ismail.

A little tour of the locker all prepared for game day.

Matt Stover's locker.

Ray Lewis' locker.

A marker at the end of the Ravens tunnel from the locker room to the sidelines.

Chuck and I on the field.

Zune

2008-09-28T20:37:00.000-05:00

So one of my new mobile gadgets is a Zune by Microsoft. I was in need of a replacement mp3 player since my iPod was not working properly. I looked at many options, but settled on this unit because it gives me 80GB of storage and was used on craigslist for a good price, $100.

After a little work, I successfully downloaded the zune desktop software and had the device reformatted for my use. It holds all my music and my begining selection of videos, the first season of The Office.

I liked the idea of the unique social feature where you can connect to other zune users via wifi if their wifi is enabled and in range of your wifi enabled zune. I tried it out for the first time at the Easten Market in DC. When I arrived with Sarah at the Easten Market, I enabled the wifi and tried scanning for other zune users in the area. I was unsuccessful in funding anyone else with a zune,via wifi, and only seemed to annoy Sarah with my geekyness in the process.

So for now it is my trusty media player and the new games that arrived with the software update a few weeks ago are about as addicting as solitaire on a pc.

That's it for now. If you are reading this and own a zune, I encourage you to turn on your wifi the next time you go out with you zune. You might stumble on another zuner.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

New car

2008-06-24T18:45:00.000-05:00

P-Wagon is in the house!

Who knew I would become a wagoneer.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Dogs rule the barbeque

2008-06-22T20:10:00.000-05:00

So yesterday we enjoyed our second barbecue of the summer at the Longs'. This barbeque's theme was Mexican, but with two entertaining dogs it quickly can become the dog show.

These pictures show Chester, the pug and Bella, the Havanese.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Phase one Complete

2008-05-30T08:42:00.000-05:00

After a month of stripping, sanding and painting, the bottom half of our Hoosier cabinet is finished. Looks pretty good, huh?

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Blue Jean Divas

2008-05-20T19:27:00.001-05:00

Jim and Cathy left last night and just before they left I noticed that Sarah and Cathy were dressed similarly. Like they say, the apple does not fall far from the tree, but that is a good thing too.

We'll miss y'all and look forward to seeing you in July for the race.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Friendly @ Friendly's

2008-05-20T19:19:00.000-05:00

Sunday night after Crossroads we grabbed a bit to eat at our local Friendly's with the Milo's. The ice cream sundae was tempting but I needed the roughage and opted for the kickin buffalo salad. Jim and Pedro had the barbecue/cheese sammi.

Overall, a good time was had by all.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Dinner last night was a feast

2008-05-18T10:01:00.000-05:00

Sarah and Cathy went to Trader Joes yesterday and came back with some beautiful shrimp and asparagus, as you can see. This was Sarah's second time to make this dish and it was wonderful. I am so blessed to have a talented chef, amongst other talents, as my wife. Yummo!

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Rolling thunder on a beautiful day

2008-05-17T18:12:00.000-05:00

After leaving the airport, we stopped for gas and happened upon this group of two wheelers. It is a beautiful day here in Maryland and I am glad to see that someone is able to enjoy it on two wheels.

Keep the rubber side down...

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Jim and Cathy have arrived

2008-05-17T18:07:00.000-05:00

After my creative photo session, Jim and Cathy arrived after a 15 minute delay at their gate.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Waiting

2008-05-17T15:30:00.000-05:00

Here are some random pictures while we were waiting for the arrival of Jim and Cathy today.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

She's Drinking Merlot!

2008-05-12T18:26:00.000-05:00

That will be four dollars please.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Is this mobile blogging?

2008-05-12T18:23:00.000-05:00

While I admit that I am new to the world of blogging and even newer to the world of mobile blogging, I couldn't help grabbing an image of Sarah working on her laptop to load images from the camera and type out a blog post. While this has been a standard for mobile workers for years, is it still 'mobile'?

Given the powerful mobile phones and PDAs we have today, how many of us still think our laptops are mobile? I still think twice before bringing my laptop on a trip because it is bulky and the power cable/block are bulky too. The only time I bring them are when I will be gone during normal business days that might require that I use them. I wish my company would be open to the idea of letting us use a vpn connection on our mobile devices. Then I could forgo the laptop on trips and just carry my smartphone and small travel charger.

So let me come full circle and ask, is blogging from a laptop mobile blogging?

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Everything is bigger in Texas

2008-05-12T18:21:00.000-05:00

This picture does not do this article's title justice, but my phone was all I had at the time I saw this big snake.

There we were, minding our own business, when out of nowhere a big (at least four foot) snake appeared in the street in front of my sister's house this weekend. I didn't dare go any closer to take the picture because that snake was very quick and seemed to be moving towards me as I got closer to get a better look at it.

My brother in law called his HOA and the City office of code enforcement to see if they could do anthing about it, but they both pointed the finger at each other. The snake probably came from the tall grass next to their house and it turns out that the land is owned by the land developer. It is the responsibility of the land owner and not the HOA or city code enforment to maintain the land and therby not create a haven for snakes. Welcome to home ownership y'all.

Don't let this little story scare you off from visiting the great state of Texas, but just be forwarned. Now you know why cowboys liked to wear tall leather boots in places like Texas.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

No nobody is beyond the reach of the TSA

2008-05-12T18:20:00.000-05:00

This is the second time I have witnessed my grandmother being hand checked/frisked by TSA. I know they are just doing their jobs and I don't blame them for doing it, but it still cracks me up. I hope you can get a laugh out of these pictures too. (note: airline security is a serious matter and I don't want to give the impression that it is not important)
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Dinner out

2008-05-11T08:55:00.000-05:00

Everyone arrived safely Friday and we all enjoyed dinner out at PF Changs in downtown Fort Worth. Good food and family; you can't go wrong.

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Texas, we have arrived

2008-05-09T13:31:00.001-05:00

God bless Texas!

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Sleeping beauty

2008-05-09T08:28:00.000-05:00

We just landed in St. Louis to drop off and pick up passengers. The adventure continues...
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The mother's day adventure begins

2008-05-09T06:09:00.001-05:00

Here we are waiting for everyone to board and watching our bags get wet outside.
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Testing mobile blogging

2008-05-08T21:14:00.000-05:00

So this is a post I am making from my BlackBerry Pearl, via email. The pictures are from dinner last Thursday when we were out with our small group at Famous Dave's. Just an expriment that might enable me to make more frequent postings.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Blackberry

2008-05-01T09:18:00.001-05:00

So I have changed mobile devices yet again, shocker, I know. There actually is a good reason behind this devices change. I have been on quest for the "right" mobile devices for my lifestyle. It needs to not only be a phone with internet access, but it needs to allow me to use my gmail email account and wirelessly keep my google calendar in sync. Most of the devices I have tried have successfully performed the first three requirements, but the wireless calendar sync has been a little more difficult than I thought.

A few weeks ago a found the mobile sync application that google has made available to its users. It is a free app that can be found at http://mobile.google.com. As of right now it only syncs wirelessly with blackberry devices. The application from google keeps your google calendar in sync with your blackberry device calendar. Now while I have tried goosync on my nokia 9300, it did not sync correctly all the time. So I tried google's mobile sync on an older blackberry that I had around. It worked and it worked flawlessly! It seems to automatically sync things as they change on either calendar. This is important to me because my wife and I tend to be busy people and have started using a google calendar that we share with each other to keep up with events. Sarah still uses a wall calendar to keep up with her schedule, but I am on the go so much and have an affinity for mobile technology that using my phone's calendar makes the most sense for me.

Having said all that, I have made the move to a blackberry for my personal device. I am using the original blackberry pearl 8100 on the AT&T network and I am enjoying it so far. I would never have thought I would become a blackberry user, but it is fitting my needs so far. I like the form factor and the fact that it has a camera is nice too. I am so committed to giving it a serious yet that I have ordered a case for it, the original lambskin case that will automatically lock the device when holstered.

So far I am running the gmail app and google sync on the device and hope to get a bible on it soon. I think my Laridian license will allow me to move my bibles I purchased for my windows mobile device a few years ago.

More impressions from a relatively new blackberry user to follow ...

Back on my Nokia 9300

2008-03-30T17:34:00.006-05:00

I am back on the Nokia 9300 again and have been using it for the past week. I still like the form factor and have gotten over the lack of vibrate notification.

I am finally using a Goosync account to sync my local device calendar with my Google calendar. Sometimes it works, other times it syncs an hour off. Still not sure why. (If you know how to fix that, please leave a comment to this post)

While I use the gmail java client for my main gmail account, I have a secondary account set-up on the communicator's native email client as a pop account. I use it to send/receive file to/from my device. Today I used the device to take notes during the sermon at church. I then emailed the finished document to my main email account for "storage". While I could not view the document in html format from a pc, but it did import properly into Google Docs.

I have to admit that taking notes on a keyboard during a discussion or a presentation, is not natural for me or the others around me, but it is just an experiment for now.

Here is the list of apps loaded on my 9300:

*Gmail client
*EBook reader (no books installed yet)
*S80 bible reader with NIV.pdb
*Widsets

More to follow as I continue to use it.

Treasure the life you have been given

2007-12-13T06:57:00.000-05:00

Friends, it is with a heavy heart that I report that my friend Marc Orchant has passed on. Marc passed earlier this week and was laid to rest yesterday. He was surrounded by friends and family to the end. If you feel lead to make a donation to Marc´s family, Oliver Star has created a paypal donation link for that. Matt Miller has also set up an Amazon Affiliate account and everything made in that account will be donated to the Orchantś. So if you are doing any shopping on Amazon, please use affiliate code zdnmobgad20.

I felt like I needed to share that to get some closure on my previous post, but to also take this opportunity to highlight the importance of treasuring the life God has given us. I believe that Marc did that, at least in the short and narrow part of his life that I was able to be a part of through his blogs and podcasts. I have been reading blog posts and comments about Marc this week and I have learned that Marc loved his friends and his family and people knew it. I know that may sound weird to say, but it is important to let those we know and care about that we do indeed love and care about them. Some people call it learning someoneś´love language´, but I think it can be something as simple as showing some kindness and even saying ¨I love you¨. My dad makes a habit of saying ¨I love you¨ at the end of our phone conversations and I appreciate it. My dad did not get the chance to say goodbye to his mother before she passed and I wonder if that plays a part in it because he started saying I love you more after her passing. I have tried to practice the same thing in my conversations also. Some people might think that ´cheapens´ the phrase by saying it so often, but I disagree. I believe that by saying it and we clearly make our feelings known, because if we don´t the other person may not know it. Life it too short for that nonsense.

So make sure that you tell those that you love, ´I love you´ more often and you might be surprised how much better life can be for you both.

Prayer Needed

2007-12-08T15:14:00.000-05:00

While I cannot profess to being a prayer warrior, I do believe that prayer is good and necessary. God is all powerful and prayer is one way for us to connect with Him. With that out of the way, there is a friend of mine whoś health is in a critical state. Marc Orchant is a tech blogger who has some good insight on mobile tech and time management. (Google him) I call him a friend, but really he is more of a virtual friend, because I have never met Marc in person. Now that you know a little about Marc, he has suffered a heart attack and is currently in a comma. While his vital signs have stabilized, Marc has remained in a comma and it is unclear if he suffered any brain damage.

Please pray for Marc. For his recovery, for his family.

Thanks,

Foleo Thoughts and more

2007-06-03T12:24:00.000-05:00

So now the mobile companion has been announced by Palm and there have been mixed reactions, but it seems like most of it is negative. I can appreciate the boldnest of Palm to venture out and try to establish a new device catagory. I think they are one to something, but it still has room to grow. The main feature that I would like in companion device is the ability to write/ink in slate mode, with the ability to transfer that handwritten input to text.

Palm, Inc. - Products - Foleo

I thought the Internet Tablet (IT) was going to be that device, but I am not a Linux guru and it has not been smooth sailing trying to set up the device to do what I want it to do. I have not given up on it and it does have many good features, but it does not meet my companion device criterea:

1. Easily mobile - laptops are mobile, but not easily mobile.
2. It is ready to use when I need it - the instant on of the Foleo meets that perfectly, the IT is good enough, but a normal pc takes too much time to be ready (even from standby mode).
3. Cost - my companion device is should not cost as much or more than my home computer. I understand paying for mobility, but don't normally need full pc functionality in my mobile companion. (This cost point has kept me out of the UMPC devices).
4. Works seemlessly with the host device/program - I have a couple programs on my pc that I cannot get ported over to my IT, like OneNote, and I think the companion device should be able to extend a portion of program's functions to be synced back to the host device/program.
5. Power lasts all day - I think it is not unreasonable to ask for a companion device to last all day while you are away from the host machine. Maybe that means a better battery or just a better use of the battery that the device has.

Without using the Foleo yet, I would dare to say that it meets criteria 1, 2, 4 and 5. The cost of the Foleo is a little disappointing given that is not overly feature laden. Overall, I am reserving final judgement on the Foleo, until it comes to market and I have a chance to try one. I also have enjoyed the inovative designs from Jeff Hawkins and crew every since the Handspring Visor, so if this Foleo is not "it" than I believe another iteration could get it done.

Have you found your companion device? What is your criterea for a companion device?

Review of the JAVOedge Desktop Charger for the Treo 750

2007-05-16T22:06:00.000-05:00

Overview

The JAVOedge desktop cradle is a simple charging station made for your desktop, but don't star into the light.

Design

The overall design of this desktop charging cradle is simple. The cradle has a hard wired USB cable for data syncing and power port for plugging the cradle into a wall outlet for charging the device. When the cradle is receiving power its little blue light on the front of the charger lights up very brightly, but that is all it does. It stays lit the same bright blue whether the device is fully charged, not charged, or even in the cradle at all. If you could tell already, the blue light is a annoying. As a matter of fact, I have to keep the cradle in another room so that we can sleep at night. It also has a useless sync button, since Windows Mobile devices normally auto sense with the computer when connected.

OK, enough negativity. I like the molded device guide that helps to ensure that the device goes on the connector properly without any guess work. The low profile base extends from the back of the cradle to give it plenty of stability and a clean look.

Functionality

The cradle does provide a charge only option via the wall charger, a sync only option via the USB cable or both if the wall charger is used while the USB cable is used. To charge the device, you must use the wall charger. A USB cable alone will not get it done. It charges and syncs data well and is completely plug and play. Unfortunately, I was not able to test this on a Mac as I do not have one yet. As I stated before, the sync button on this model is useless and the blue light on the front of the unit does little for functionality or deign.

I wish the wall charger connector would double as a regular "Treo plug" wall charger. Instead, it is only useful on the cradle alone.

Conclusion

Overall this device delivers on what it promises, charging and syncing. The blue light can be annoying so be warned. I wish it had a slot to charge an extra battery like my Palm designed charger. It would be helpful for a power user like me. At a retail price of $32.95, you could find a comparable cradle for charging and syncing for less.

Mobile Meetup

2007-04-14T16:34:00.000-05:00

Well, we have been here for a couple of hours and got one visitor, my friend Pat. Pat wanted to talk about taxes and I helped him reconcile an issue. Cool and I'm not even a CPA.

So, I was going to flash my n800, but it requires a full charge and it is still charging. I guess this will have to wait until later.

Antoine and I were talking about the next meetup and were thinking about having it at the NYC Nokia store... They would probably kick us out after a while, but it is worth a try. I'll make sure to post about it if we decide to go for it.

Devices

So I am back on a Symbian kick again. More specifically, a Nokia kick. I found a sweet deal on Craigslist; someone wanted a Cingular branded Treo 650 and he was willing to trade his Nokia 9300 and his Nokia e62. So we made the trade and it was a good trade for both of us. I used the 9300 for a few weeks and really like it's form factor. (More on that in another post) I jsut switched to the e62 a couple days ago and am using it for the first time without Good Mobile Messaging. So far so good. If you are not familiar with the Nokia line of mobiles, I highly recommend checking them out, www.nokia.com.

I would dare to say that Nokia is my favorite manufacturer of mobile phones/devices. What is your favorite device or manufacturer?

My device adventure updates

2007-02-07T21:04:00.000-05:00

It has been way too long since I have posted here, so here I go...

I have been using a Nokia e62 at work on the Good Mobile Messaging server and it is a good device. After being a Treo on Good Link user for a couple years, I have to admit that the Good Mobile Message client on the Nokia e62 falls short because it does not have a good launcher screen with an agenda view. When I spoke with the folks at Good, they said it was in development.... we will just have to wait and see.

In the mean time, I am using a Treo 650 for my personal mobile and it is still a great device. I didn't realize how much I missed the Treo. When I used the Treo, it was with the Good Link client and it dominated the device. I had more of a corporate view of the Treo. Now that Good Link is off the device, I am looking at the device from a consumer perspective.

Here is my Treo 650 set up:

After a fresh super-hard reset (or zero out), I inserted my personal mobile's SIM. [note: This device is an unlocked Treo 650, but this zero out works for all Treo 650s]
I loaded the IBM Websphere Java Client, so that I could run the Gmail client and Opera Mini.
I use the new Java client to download and install the Gmail mobile phone app. [note: The Gmail team does not officially support this client, but from my experience,it does work on the Treo 650.]
I again use the Java client to download and install Opera Mini. I find that this browser make the EDGE connection a little more efficient for surfing the web.
I beamed the Bible+ application and a bible from Sarah's Treo.
Now I make my own simple version of a launcher, I move the apps I use most into the Main category. This allows me to leave the device on this category and I find that it makes my mobile use very efficient. It also allows me to add other programs and not junk up "my launcher".
Finally, I add a device password for security. Everyone should do this.

I run a voice and unlimited data plan from Cingular, so this configured device is now a lean mean mobile productivity machine. I never thought an older smartphone would be "new again".

Have you every rediscovered something? (It does not have to be tech related)

New Device Announcements

2006-09-12T21:55:00.000-05:00

There were several new mobile device announcements. The New Treo 750 and the Nokia E62 caught my attention. The Treo is long awaited update to the Treo 650 for the GSM mobile network. I actually got to check out a Nokia E 62 a couple weeks ago and it is nice. While I don't have a lot of experince with Symbian OS devices, I am tempted to get one when they are released on September 29. While thw Treo 750 is only available in Europe right now, I am sure it will come to America soonest.

What new devices are yall looking forward too?

Communication

2006-05-17T05:47:00.000-05:00

For the past couple months Sarah and I have been involved in a marriage mentoring class with an experienced couple from our church. It has been a real learning experience and we are not quite half way through the material. This latest block of study has been on communication. I have learned that I am not the great communicator that I thought I was. It has challenged me to look deeper at the elements that make up communication, good and bad, and address them in my life and in Sarah. The thing that prompted this post was a verse that I read in Proverbs. [By the way, if you have not read any or all of the book of Proverbs in the Bible, I highly recommend it.]

Proverbs 10:7-10
He who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself, And he who reproves a wicked man gets insults for himself. Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you, Reprove a wise man and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser, Teach a righteous man and he will increase his learning. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Does this mean that we should reserve correction, relative to God's way, for other Christians? Does standing on a street corner telling everyone in earshot to repent or your going to hell really advance God's kingdom? Perhaps we should live out our lives as a follower of Christ and allow that along with the Holy Spirit to work on the unbeliever's heart so that when they do seek we can pour the knowledge of God's love through Jesus into them. I am interested in your thoughts on this.

Humbly,
Demetri

Auto tires and road hazards

2006-03-06T17:26:00.000-05:00

Friday night I rubbed a curb with my right rear tire while making a turn and it did more damage than I thought. The next morning I discovered that I had a flat. Upon closer inspection, I had sliced the sidewall, an unrepairable problem.

Thankfully, when I purchased the tires just a couple weeks before, I opted for the road hazard warranty. It saved me $64 and I only had to pay for labor and tire disposal fee, $17.

I post this to encourage you all to remember to get the road hazard warranty. It is worth it.

Theft

2006-03-06T17:13:00.000-05:00

Thursday night someone broke into my car and "tossed" it. They went through everything. They only stole a laptop power source and an external DVD drive made for laptops. At first I was amazed and then I was upset. After stewing in my anger and trying to put it into perspective by reading the Word, I finally calmed down.

Why to people steal stuff like that? I mean they passed up sunglasses, a leatherman and decent backpack that I had in my car. It seemed so random, but I guess they were interested in potential pawn value of the computer accessories.

I've often wondered what I would do if I caught someone in the act. What would you do?

Mobile Device Virus Alert

2006-03-02T11:02:00.000-05:00

I saw this article on a new virus for mobile devices. If you have a Nokia 6681, Sony-Ericsson W800i, or the BlackBerry 8700c, this new virus could affect your device.

See this link (edited).

Please read and protect your device with the appropriate measures.
I currently do not run any anti-virus software on my devices, Treo 650 or SMT 5600. However, I am starting to think that I should since I use both devices on the Internet.

Do you use your phone/PDA phone/ Smartphone on the Internet? If so do you use virus protection for your device? If so what type if virus protection do you use and why?

Refocus

2006-02-27T11:14:00.000-05:00

Ok, I started this blog with grand ideas that it would serve as a conversation spot for mobile computing and how it enhanced my daily living. After much consideration and a lack of posting material, I decided to instead open up the focus to the broader subject, "An insight to my life...".

I think this new focus will make this blog more relevant to people in my life and who I meet. I hope that the new focus will allow me to develop a journaling/ blogging discipline as a way to communicate to a broader range of people.

Thanks for still coming back to read this. Especially Zach!

Do you blog? Why?

Bible on my smartphone

2006-01-30T07:10:00.000-05:00

I had a Bible on one of my older PDAs, but it didn't always have the PDA on me, so it was about as useful as the printed version of the Bible. (Which is to this day very important) Last week I loaded up a couple versions, NASB and NIV, of the Bible to my smartphone. The program I chose was from Laridian, www.laridian.com. Palmsolo had done a review on the software for his smartphone and gave it a positive review, so I decided to give it shot for myself. Check out his review:

http://www.palmsolo.com/2005/03/review-laridian-pocketbible-for.html

I have gotten a lot of use out of it thus far. I normally have my smartphone with me if I am leaving my house, so that means that I also have a copy of the Bible with me too. This is helpful for memorization, random requests for look-ups, quotes "for the moment" and filing those down times with valuable time in the Word. I have found that when I go to the phone and see that Bible icon, it even acts as an accountability mechanism to get me back into the Word.

For any Palm users who are looking for a Bible, in addition to Laridian there is a freeware version of various Bibles, called Bible Plus. Check it out at:

http://palmbibleplus.sourceforge.net/index.htm

My friend Antoine uses and supports the software. While I have not used it yet, he gets a great deal of use out of it.

Do you have a Bible on your mobile device/s? Do you have other books on your mobile device/s? Why or why not?

Mobile Pictures

2006-01-23T23:46:00.000-05:00

So I am sending this from my smartphone, SMT5600.
I am using Splashblog to take and post pictures from my smartphone.
While their site does not say that it works on windows mobile 2003SE,
it does work.
Check it out ...
http://www.splashblog.com/mobilecowboy

Do you post pictures on the fly from your mobile device?

Device 2

2006-01-20T07:47:00.000-05:00

OK, so after the theft of my visor, bought a used Palm IIIxe. It was comparable to the Visor and was fairly rugged for it's time. I got some good use out of it before I gifted it to a friend, who used it until it stopped working.

I would recommend the Palm IIIxe to anyone looking to explore mobile computing with a PDA. I still have mine and might try to repair it to pass it on to a new user.

Do you keep your old PDAs, sell them or simply pass them on?

Mobile Posts

2006-01-16T07:55:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I spoke too soon. There is a way to post via mobile device besides going through a Web browser. Check this link out:

http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=1131

I would have set it up by now to give some feedback on the process, but my mobile carrier, Cingular, is having issues with it's data connectivity in this area. I think that issue may be related to 'network upgrades'. It is the universal, catch-all excuse for IT issues. Once I get reconnected on my mobile device, I'll give it a try and post my experience with setting up moblogging, as the above article calls it.

Do you currently Moblog? If so how often?

Posting problems

2006-01-15T09:23:00.000-05:00

Well, I didn't make last night's post. I remembered just as I was meeting some friends for dinner and I thought that I could make a post from one of my mobile phones, an Audiovox SMT 5600. I got to the Blogger login screen, entered my username and password, but could not "click" on the sign in button. It was highlighted, but I could not make the "click".

I assumed it would not have been a big deal because I made my first post with my Treo 650. I can only assume there is a browser incompatibility issue. I am going to research this more, but I would have hoped that something like Blogger would be mobile friendly.

While I am not a Web site designer, I would encourage those that do build Web sites to keep mobile users in mind when building your site. Yahoo has been mobile friendly for a while and Gmail recently did the same. How important to you is it that Web sites are mobile friendly?

Devices

2006-01-13T07:30:00.000-05:00

I have been using handheld computers since the early days of Handspring. I was really taken by the Springboard concept and just had to get a Visor. So my first device was a Visor Deluxe, ice color. I was so enthusiastic about it and got so much use out of it, I ended up helping a couple of my friends decide to get the Visor Color edition. During my time with the Visor, I had several Springboard accessories. First I got the backup card. Definitely a good investment, as AAA batteries don't always last as long as you may hope. I also got a memory card adapter for CF cards. It kinda worked, but I was never impressed. Finally, I invested in the Minstrel modem. It allowed me to be online anywhere I could get a Verizon Wireless signal. I thought it was so cool that I could sit in a park and IM with my friends while they were probably chained to their desktop pcs.

Well that chapter in geekdom closed when our office was broken into and my Visor was stolen. Thankfully I didn't have any springboard modules in it at the time, so I only lost the device and cradle. I sold the modem and CF adapter, but kept the backup module just in case I ever decided to get nostalgic and get another visor. Well, last year my boss had an original Visor that his wife used to use but no longer needed. You guessed it, I have it now and have used it to introduce my girlfriend to mobile computing. She now has moved onto a Clie.

So that was device number one for me. I'll continue to share about my devices and how they fit into my life, but I am curious about others encounters. What was your first device? Do you still have it? Are you using it?

New Year

2006-01-12T07:57:00.000-05:00

New Year's Resolutions... Why is it always so difficult to come up with new ones? Well, it has taken me this long to come up with mine, blogging.

I would like to create a blog that is worth visiting. One that has fresh content on a regular basis. So my resolution is to make a post daily in the month of January. My thought is that if I post daily for several weeks straight, it will become a habit and I will be on my way to creating a 'worthy' blog. I can't promise that the content will be exciting, but there will be something new daily.

So today's post is done. What are your New Year's Resolutions?

My First Post

2005-12-18T23:38:00.000-05:00

The purpose of this blog is share my adventures in mobile computing and how it is a tool in my life.