As Kevin said "an SD card on a carrier pigeon might have been faster" but regardless, he and James did answer my inquiry about a direct and automatic way to catch their podcast on my PPC. And they gave some info about my blog to boot. Thanks guys!
I want to catch podcasts on my iPAQ 1950 directly via wifi and the app I found, Smartfeed, is available in different versions for different devices. Unfortunately I could not figure out which version to use since nothing in my iPAQ data says "ARM", which is the right version. Thanks again to Kevin and James for pointing me in the right direction and for verifying that it legitimately was confusing.
They also point me to FeederReader, which I didn't consider because tray don't state which versions are compatible and their screenshots are not 5.0. However, it appears to be considerably more robust and versatile so I'll give it a try.
As an added bonus in her review, Tracy shows us a photo, so now we have a pretty face to go with her pretty podcast voice (I still picture James Kendrick as a cartoon).
It's bad enough that I composed my last post at the dentist office, but after I met my wife at Starbucks, I stuck around to post it and drew the attention of a delusional drifter type while sitting outside (beautiful day BTW).
He's checking out my tablet and starts talking about his modeling career and the marketing business he wants to set up. I enjoy showing off my tablet and I don't mean to discriminate, but why did I get the crazy dude and not the hot blonde who walked by a minute later? Not fair.
The Ultranauts recently predicted that the Ultramob (umpc) would find an audience with the open source OS crowd. Many have been quick to point out that the inking capability of Windows XP Tablet PC edition is too useful to lose. I clearly love ink, but I disagree.
Ink is a very useful interface, but for a small touchscreen device, ink is hardly necessary. Touchscreen provides pointer interface. Onscreen thumb board provides text. That's all most people use anyway and Windows is not essential for that.
Where I see open source systems playing a role is in the development of dedicated devices. The great strength of Windows is its versatility. This is, however, also a weakness since it cannot focus on doing one thing at the expense of others. For example, the Nokia Internet tablet runs a flavor of Linux tailored for the specific purpose of accessing the net. Likewise, I believe we will see other Ultramobs designed for specific purposes, running operating systems optimized for that function.
As the UMPC/Origami/Umpsie name game rolls on, I find myself mentally referring to the ultra-mobile PC as an Ultramob - that's "mob" with a long "o" sound, like the Book of Job (or the magician brother from Arrested Development, the TV show, not the music group). Anyway, in case anyone else starts calling it that, I'm officially coining the term.
No, I'm not stepping into the podcast realm with the MoTR boys. But having spent a week out and about, I thought if might be useful to look at my mobile tech usage during my vacation.
Most used was my Casio S500 digital camera. Snapped far more pics than the few on my vacation blahg. Wonderfully clear shots given my usually unsteady hand. Battery handled most days easily, but the trip to the zoo was too much - made it through four of the five hours with lot of zooming and video clips.
Next up is my iPAQ Pocket PC. My beautiful wife put together a rich itinerary for us, which I loaded on my PPC. This kept me on track and in the right direction, except for those messed up roads in Pennsylvania.
Aside from the car, that was it for my mobile tech usage during the outings. I marked up my photos on my tablet after I got home, but I didn't see a need to bring it with me. Even my PPC got minimal use and I don't see anything wrong with that. Some bloggers have questioned the mobility of the Tablet PC, noting that few users take theirs everywhere. Well, why would I take it everywhere? I take it anywhere I think I might need it, but that's not everywhere. It was quite handy during my trip to Japan, but those circumstances did not exist during my mom's visit. Thus, my tablet played a supporting role, not a key one.
One piece of mobile tech that I could have used is GPS. Maps and directions worked well enough, but position awareness would have been great. Wish I could rent one for vacations.
Technically, it's called "Crunchy Feet," but it's poundcake. My mom and I hoofed it out to Adams Morgan to pick up some pastries and cakes because my mom saw the bakery on television and had to try it on her visit.
Well, I've had a couple and it's possible my pursuit of Poundcake perfection is pau (that means "done" in Hawaiian). It's sweet, soft, and fluffy. By far the best poundcake I've ever tasted. Well worth the trip into DC and the walk down U Street.
It's not as big a challenge as some (like my siblings) might think, but I made it through a week with my mom. Actually, even though I spent eighteen years plotting my escape from her, my mom is great (contrary to what my fellow escapees might say). We had a lot of fun trekking to the sights and walking through the cities. Thanks for coming to see me and Tanya, mom. Look forward to seeing you again soon... assuming you survive the weekend with Annie.
A few twists and turns aside, we drove straight through Maryland and into Pennsylvania to visit mom's "Graceland": the QVC studios.
Not a whole lot in the store (they save all their good stuff for the show), but we took a tour of the studios and saw where the magic was made. We even saw the live studio as they were shooting.
After that, we hit Boyd's Bear Country so mom could stock up on those little bears. Photos and video reaction to QVC on the vacation blahg.
In the first of two days in DC with my mom, we toured some museums and memorials. First stop was Union Station where we hopped a trolley to the hotspots. Check out the vacation blahg for highlights.
What you see here is the last dish of seafood I will eat for the next fifty years.
I call this my 50-year fish boycott, but really it extends to all seafood. Basically, I'm giving up seafood for the next fifty years, so that the chunk of the ocean population I would normally be killing will have a chance to replenish itself so that I can enjoy seafood after I retire.
Think of it as an investment in which I build up seafood credit to be spent later, either by myself or my offspring. Not only do I want to enjoy seafood in the future, but I would like my kids to have the opportunity as well.
More details to come, but I wanted to establish this date, my 31st birthday, as the official start of my boycott, To be clear, I do love seafood and I am not giving it up. Rather, I am hoping my sacrifice now will accrue interest and deliver a hefty reward in the future. The time to preserve our seas is now.
Spent my Good Friday getting the place cleaned up for my mom's visit with the East coast kids. First stop: here for a week. Going to hit DC for the zoo and PA for QVC, among others. Expect updates on the vacation blahg.
Found this car parked next to mine when I left work. Figure it must be some bigwig at Intel since they are pushing WiMax but there are plenty of other tech and communication companies around here. If this is your car, let me know or give me a job.
Okay, I've given it some careful thought (not really, but let's pretend) and I think my next Tablet PC (realistically, not idealistically) will be the HP TC1100 and here's why.
First, I like slates. Granted, I never used a convertible, but I know I don't care for laptops and I love my slate.
Second, I love all things hybrid. My wife and I own a Toyota Prius. My favorite songs are mash-ups, cross-genre covers, and rap-metal fusion. I oppose President Bush's call against human-animal hybrids. (Okay, that's a lie; I don't know what the hell he was talking about.) Bottom line: I dig hybrids.
Third, I like things that transform. Autobot decals adorn my tablet. Transformers dominate the shelf in my den. One twist of that swivel hinge and I'll make that transforming sound or yell out "tabletize!" Better yet, I'll program it into the tablet to do on its own.
Anyway, I have no set plans to buy one any time soon. After all, I'm currently using a first gen slate bought refurbished. I am, however, pricing around and contemplating options. Obviously, I can't buy one direct since the model was discontinued, but wasn't planning that anyway. Just hope scarcity doesn't drive up the demand and price.
Coinstar, the service that allows you to cash in your loose change for an 8.9% processing fee, now offers full value redemption for gift cards and certificates for a variety of retailers, including iTunes. Given that I am swimming in gift cards and no loose change, this is of little interest to me, but this gives me some ammunition to throw around when I tell my students to save their pennies.
In Darmstadt, Germany, a woman who found a wallet filled with 1000 Euros (~$1200) was arrested because she demanded a 10% finder's fee before returning it. So kids, if you find a wallet loaded with cash, don't risk getting arrested: just keep the money.
Kudos to Loren Heiny for installing Windows XP Tablet PC Edition on his iMac. Say what you will about Apple; they know how to put together a quality product. However, their true strength lies in their unmatched integration of hardware and software, which a Mac running Windows will lack. Still, good job with the install. Fun way to ink on an iMac.
Looks like I'm on Hugo Ortega's short list. Just received word from him that Fujitsu is contemplating a UMPC but they're taking the slow and steady approach with consideration for their partner-in-tech Siemens. Hugo's thinking broadband UMPC, which I agree, but I'm thinking more along the lines of phone capabilities.
It's no secret that most of the illegal immigrants in this country came over from Mexico, and they make up the bulk of the demonstrators in today's pro-immigration rallies. It is ironic then that most Mexicans are of full or partial indigenous descent and they can trace their ancestry across much our land, such as the parts that used to belong to Mexico. We're literally telling Native Americans to "go home."
One of my favorite new humor sites is OfficePirates. In addition to dirty jokes, tasteless videos and general mockery of the office environment, they maintain a blog pointing out all the news that's worth reading. Among the tidbits from April 6th are some highlights from the CNN interview with Bill Gates: "How I work." I pass out before I ever finish reading the interview but the OP breakdown is riveting.
Found an outstanding introduction to Tablet PCs on a website called Presentations.com. They deal in news and reports of the Powerpoint variety. The article obviously mentions much of the presentation power of ink, but starts with a very friendly introduction for the uninitiated. It does acknowledge the other side of the argument, but it is as pro-tablet as the title implies.
I keep saying keyboards are great for letter-based languages, but lousy for character-based ones. Well, Hewlett-Packard knows it too, so they are releasing a Hindi language tablet for the rapidly expanding market in India. Given that India is the second most-populous nation in the world, following China which also uses character-based languages, how long before ink becomes the dominant form of computer input?
Soft drinks, cell phones, and now barbecue meat, I've been turning my nose up at recent cancer scares left and right lately. And now that I've been preparing for a new dietary boycott, I wonder if there might be more news to come. There will be from me once I make my next boycott official.
Amazing how quickly I can go from working 60 hours a week to being at work 40 hours. It's a nice break, which I can certainly use. And I am able to occupy my time.
It being a gloomy rainy day, I sought mid-day meal refuge at the lobby of the nearby Hyatt. The hotel offers wifi at $10 a day (no thanks) and there is a Panera, which offers free wifi to its diners. I had my own lunch and Internet connection, so I opted for neither. Nice to sit in a cushy chair for email and a sandwich.
No, it's not software; it's just an old-fashioned "pen and paper" role-playing game, but it packs the most powerful and robust system of play I've ever used and I've been under an iron-clad NDA not to discuss it since I playtested it last year. And wouldn't you know it, I've done such a fine job of putting it out of my mind that I missed the release.
Well, I can discuss it now, so here's the scoop: along with our usual gang of geeks, I playtested this version (as well as the original) for contributing author Zach Bush, who revised the Storytelling rules. What's particularly cool about this is that Zach has played in my games, as well as vice versa, which means I have passively contributed to his excellent work. Regardless, Zach is a top notch gamemaster and there's no one I would have trusted more to write this section.
Zach also built the rules for resolving conflicts between nations called "Mandate of Heaven'. The system got bumped to the Storyteller's Companion, which is appropriate because it is not critical to standard gameplay, but it is a killer expansion for any Storyteller who wants to run an epic-level adventure. The rules are both rich and intuitive. We had great fun testing it. Any Storyteller who doesn't try it is missing out.
One great thing about the game is that it is available as a PDF from DriveThruRPG.com, so now I can put some attention toward converting the game from "pen and paper" to "pen and tablet" using javascropt dice rollers, reformatted book pages, and an endless supply of digital notebook pages. Should be fun.
One look at me and you'd assume I enjoy a tasty benzene-ridden soft drink and carry a cancer-causing cell phone. But I don't. I cut out artificially flavored drinks, particularly those with high fructose corn syrup, a month ago, and I've never owned a cell phone. Quite fortunate given all the health concerns over both. Nice to see the FDA investigating these concerns years after [these things] became ubiquitous.
According to Lewis Libby, the fall guy in the CIA leak scandal, President Bush did indeed authorize the disclosure. Keep in mind, however, Dubya signs any piece of paper his people put in front of him and thinks "every war plan looks good on paper". He's probably authorized a lot of things without knowing it and I doubt this is the worst.
For example, I'm outside enjoying my lunch right now and it is quite pleasant, except that it is both cold & windy and bright & sunny. It would seem this combo should balance out neatly. However, it is way more cold than warm, and the bright sun makes it quite difficult to see my screen. Fortunately, the blue on white contrast helps. The ink is blue, right?
Don't just speak your mind: map it with MindJet MindManager and maybe you'll win more than $1000 in powerful software. Note Talkers is (are?) holding a contest in search of great demos of MindManager. Top winners in each of the three categories walks away with an amazing stash of software, including MindManager Pro 6 and Camtasia. You can map about taking notes, describe what's on your mind, or do a screencast of MindManager. The full rules are here. I have yet to map my mind, but hopefully I'll have the chance between now and my mom's visit. Among the impartial judges is the greatest tableteer of all time, Warner Crocker, who can in no way be influenced by flattery because he is simply too awesome and good-looking for that to work.
In case you haven't noticed, I've developed a new method for creating links in ink. The previous attempt used the obvious solution of image mapping. However, this method isn't very useful since it lacks a good way to highlight a link, as with underlining text. Thus, I've come up with something new.
Instead of a map, I've decided to go with layers. After tooling with the code, I boiled down a template that links to an external script and style sheet. All I have to do is fill in the link info.
I upload the resultant web page and ink images to my web site. Then in Blogger, I paste in the code for the inline frame followed by the text. Takes a few more steps than my usual process, but it's nice to have the option available.
DualCor has announced their LEAP program to introduce their cPC mini tablet to early adopters, and guess who's taken the leap! That's right, I managed to get my hands on one. Check it out!
Been so anxious for the release of TEO 3.0 that I didn't notice the beta has not been tested on Outlook 2002. Well, it has now and the results weren't pretty.
Fortunately, I was able to uninstall it and put 2.0 back in without a hitch. Guess I'll be waiting a bit longer for 3.0.
Hawaii gets a lot of rain, so I didn't think too much about the recent news that it was really coming down lately. But then my Uncle Clinton sent me some photos. Not catastrophic by any means but still pretty bad when you consider water should be able to flow to the ocean pretty easily.
