Earthquake!
The boys were taking it pretty well ... until they saw this ...
earthquake breaks recent creation into a dozen pieces!
earthquake breaks recent creation into a dozen pieces!
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- Filling the truck
- Earthquake!
- Earthquake!
- Dusk test shot with flash
- Goodbye iPhone, hello Sidekick LX
- When www goes missing
- Finally!
- Why aren't people up in arms about this?
- When driving, every second really does count
- Native iPhone apps ... too late
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Goodbye iPhone, hello Sidekick LX
Well, that's that. Less than four months later, I've given up on the iPhone, sucked up the cancellation fee, and moved on. I've returned to the Sidekick family, having just purchased the new Sidekick LX.
Why did I give up on the iPhone? I've outlined some of the reasons already, but in a nutshell:
- Virtual keyboard and I don't get along - at all
- Tired of all that pinching and sliding
- Lots and lots of randomly dropped calls
- Wonky, hard-to-use e-mail client
And why did I go to the Sidekick LX?
- I'm a dumbass technolust kind of guy
- Much improved camera, especially in half-light - wow!
- Big bright display
- Ahhhhh, that keyboard - nice blend of the SK2 and SK3 hardware
And by the way - my custom background that I had created for my SK3 (and stored on its SD card) still works on the SKLX. Pretty classy. However, I do desparately miss my Evil Overlord ringtone.
Why did I give up on the iPhone? I've outlined some of the reasons already, but in a nutshell:
- Virtual keyboard and I don't get along - at all
- Tired of all that pinching and sliding
- Lots and lots of randomly dropped calls
- Wonky, hard-to-use e-mail client
And why did I go to the Sidekick LX?
- I'm a dumbass technolust kind of guy
- Much improved camera, especially in half-light - wow!
- Big bright display
- Ahhhhh, that keyboard - nice blend of the SK2 and SK3 hardware
And by the way - my custom background that I had created for my SK3 (and stored on its SD card) still works on the SKLX. Pretty classy. However, I do desparately miss my Evil Overlord ringtone.
When www goes missing
Remember when we used to type "http://www." before every single URL that we typed in? And then people learned to leave off the whole "http://" mess? I started leaving off the "www." quite a while ago, and for the most part it works just fine. Most websites are set up to accept www.utilware.com or utilware.com, and both URLs point to the same thing. However, if you make a habit of always leaving it off, it's surprising how many sites end up serving you a 404 or other strange response instead of their homepage.
Why aren't people up in arms about this?
Everyone got their heads all bent out of shape when the early
adopters got the $200 shaft on the iPhone, but nobody is complaining
that you still have to pay $0.30 each to upgrade previously-purchased
songs to the non-DRM versions. What gives? Maybe it's because, in
my instance, it's $4.80.
adopters got the $200 shaft on the iPhone, but nobody is complaining
that you still have to pay $0.30 each to upgrade previously-purchased
songs to the non-DRM versions. What gives? Maybe it's because, in
my instance, it's $4.80.
When driving, every second really does count
Common wisdom has it that jackrabbit starts and racing from stoplight to stoplight end up being a waste of time. As the theory goes, a guy will just get stuck at the next light, and traffic will catch up after all. Those knuckleheads that intently watch for the light to turn green, accelerate quickly, and pounce on open slots in traffic? Fools, they say, fools!
Me, of course, I'm in the other camp. Not the damn-the-torpedoes, good-luck-to-the-pedestrians camp, but the proactive, opportunity-watching, hyper-engaged driver camp. And today my point was proven oh so beautifully.
There we were this morning, in line to leave the parking lot. My wife was first, then someone else, and then me. When my wife turned onto the street, the next person - looking at their cell phone - hesitated for a couple of seconds before pulling up, which resulted in their missing a window in the traffic flow, which resulted in my having to wait for the window-after-next, which resulted in my missing the left turn arrow at the next intersection, which resulted in a long wait ... and so on.
My wife and I were both driving to the same place. Those two or three seconds, magnified by a long series of red lights, ended up in my arriving nearly 10 minutes after her to the next location - just a few miles away.
So next time the knucklehead next to you in a black SUV gets excited when the light turns green, get out of his way. Please.
Me, of course, I'm in the other camp. Not the damn-the-torpedoes, good-luck-to-the-pedestrians camp, but the proactive, opportunity-watching, hyper-engaged driver camp. And today my point was proven oh so beautifully.
There we were this morning, in line to leave the parking lot. My wife was first, then someone else, and then me. When my wife turned onto the street, the next person - looking at their cell phone - hesitated for a couple of seconds before pulling up, which resulted in their missing a window in the traffic flow, which resulted in my having to wait for the window-after-next, which resulted in my missing the left turn arrow at the next intersection, which resulted in a long wait ... and so on.
My wife and I were both driving to the same place. Those two or three seconds, magnified by a long series of red lights, ended up in my arriving nearly 10 minutes after her to the next location - just a few miles away.
So next time the knucklehead next to you in a black SUV gets excited when the light turns green, get out of his way. Please.
Native iPhone apps ... too late
Man, a couple of months ago I would have been all excited about native iPhone apps. And with the announcement today that they'll be releasing SDK ... later ... and we should expect apps ... sometime next year? Unfortunately, my technolust has already wandered off to the next great thing. My window of opportunity has closed. My longing for a real keyboard must be sated.
Fitting text into spaces
Strange thing. As a child, I got to the point that I could evenly space handwritten letters across a given area without really thinking about it. Write "Happy Birthday" exactly centered on a 16-inch banner with 4-inch high letters? No problem. Write "Lemonade 10 cents" so that it perfectly fit an 8.5x11 sheet of paper? No problem. But after living in Spain for a year, and speaking Spanish pretty much exclusively, I lost the touch entirely. It took several years to get it back.
And now I'm finding a digital parallel, in a way. When I'm typing into a text box and realize that I'm about out of space ... such as typing into Twitter and it's counting down to 0 characters left, I tend to type the last 10-12 characters >much faster<, as if typing them faster would make them fit.
Crazy how the brain works (or doesn't).
And now I'm finding a digital parallel, in a way. When I'm typing into a text box and realize that I'm about out of space ... such as typing into Twitter and it's counting down to 0 characters left, I tend to type the last 10-12 characters >much faster<, as if typing them faster would make them fit.
Crazy how the brain works (or doesn't).
Um, how much?
C'mon, folks, fill in the price before posting the sign. That's the difference in owner-operated/managed, and working for minimum wage at a chain, I guess.
1 of 3 people in theater
Because it's Tuesday? Because it's late? Because it's a cheesy action movie? Or will this massive crowd show up in the 2 minutes remaining before the show?
Sidekick hanging by its magnets
-----
This message sent from my (overpriced, early adopter, but at least not
bricked) iPhone
This message sent from my (overpriced, early adopter, but at least not
bricked) iPhone
First of many visits here
Right across the street from our new office. Something tells me the
vortex will suck me in one too many times. Yo quiero Taco Bell, pero
mi estómago no.
-----
This message sent from my (overpriced, early adopter, but at least not
bricked) iPhone
vortex will suck me in one too many times. Yo quiero Taco Bell, pero
mi estómago no.
-----
This message sent from my (overpriced, early adopter, but at least not
bricked) iPhone
Now where did I put that cookie?
Damn it Marge, did you eat the last cookie?
- No.
C'mon, it was right here in the package.
- No, you ate it.
Bull.
- No, you was eating them at the gas station.
Was not.
- I saw your fat a-- eatin 'em while you was pumpin gas.
I know you took it.
- I want a divorce.
Eff off.
- No.
C'mon, it was right here in the package.
- No, you ate it.
Bull.
- No, you was eating them at the gas station.
Was not.
- I saw your fat a-- eatin 'em while you was pumpin gas.
I know you took it.
- I want a divorce.
Eff off.
17" MacBook Pro with Vista
Loved this guy's MacBook running Vista and Freecell ... makes me want to boot Windows 3.1 under Parallels tonight, just for fun.
Update 1.1.1 to the iPhone
The one thing that's keeping me with the iPhone (rather than giving it the boot for one of those tasty new Sidekicks) is the fact that it can be upgraded over time via software. The early point releases were - yawn - pretty mundane, but this 1.1.1 is starting to show some promise and fixes some of my biggest concerns. I've updated my iPhone review page with the latest. My great white hope is that the next release of OSX will show some serious integration with the iPhone, especially in the area of notes. If there's two-way note synching with the phone, I'll be much happer.