A new David Pogue video greatness. This is a recording of a talk he did at TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) EG 2008 conference. If you’re not geeky enough to want to see the whole thing, at least let it load and start watching at the 24:15 mark. It’s gem.
You twitter? His tweets are hilarious.
There isn’t a better way to announce my blog’s newly rendered iPhone version than via the Wordpress App.
I have been for weeks trying to find a solution to make my blog load faster on phones. While on the hunt I came across this awesome free service called Mippin (www.mippin.com) that turns your RSS into a fully functioning mobile site in minutes. I had it up for a week, they even have a Wordpress plugin for it and it all went well until WPTouch made it presence known to me.
And then it happened again. The battle between iPhone and the rest of the world. I tried installing both plugisn at the same time, hoping that Mippin would take care of WAP and PDA broswers while iPhones would get sent to my WPTouch version. Turns out on iPhone it showed my Mippin site while Opera Mini just showed my normal blog.
Then it came time to choose.
I really think what people say about Apple users is true: we’re self-centered self-important bunch. But seriously WPTouch just looks so much better and has more features. And when you add it to home screen, you’ll get a nice shiny little GnarlyKitty icon too.
I still have the Mippin site up and running so I’ll be putting a link somewhere for non-iPhone users to click through. You’re one? Try it at http://www.mippin.com/gnarlykitty.
Until then, here’s a few shots of what you guys are missing:
That’s it. I have taken the final step to becoming full-fledged phone addict.
A second number.
Why? Being in this business you have to give out your phone numbers to people you don’t really give a shit about calling, unless you need something from them like PRs and media lists.
I had been stupid enough to have only one number to give. And as a result, I either get constant SMS alerts throughout the day about nothing but promotion and news, or get a call from one of those people in odd hours like 10pm on a Saturday.
With a second phone, I can finally turn my phone off.
So I went to Jaymart on the Silom BTS station today and got myself the cheapest phone I could make myself use. There was a 790 baht Nokia but really I still have some dignity. I don’t think I’d want to be seen with a monochromed/monophonic phone in 21st century.
So I looked around and finally paid 1,000 baht for Samsung B110.
Samsung is a good brand for cheap yet chic phones. This one comes with a color screen, vibrating alert, speakerphone, polyphonic ringer, alarm and calculator. And that’s pretty much it. But hey that’s the whole point of having a second phone. It can also act as a reliable backup when the one with internet and camera fucks up on you.
I can’t believe it’s so easy and cheap for someone to own a mobile phone here. And we don’t have the contract bullshit like in the US either when you’re tied to a phone and a SIM for a specific time period. That’s ridiculous. The phone you can grab off any vendors and get a SIM with your cup of iced coffee at 7-11 and voila you have a working mobile phone.
I am now also a True Move user. I went with True as you can also get a wifi account with it by just sending an SMS. For non-True users, an hour of wifi session will cost you 150 baht. With a True Move SIM, you can get 1-day unlimited access for 120, or 90 baht if you wanna go by the hour. What a difference.
Now the thing with True Move SIM is that their promotion packages are a little bit off. There are 5-6 packages to choose from and each of them has some serious flaws. Like one package lets you have first 5 minutes at 50 satang — but then it’s only when you call other True numbers, and then there’s first minute for 25 satang and the next at whopping 1.50 baht. I mean who can talk on the phone for less than a minute! It’s humanly impossible. And then there are more bullshit like this so just I went for a simple 1 baht per minute deal. Since I’m going to be using this one to receive calls most of the time, I don’t need a fancy package.
One thing I have just learned as a pre-paid SIM newbie though–these things expire! If you don’t top up your account within an allocated time period the service will be cut off. And then there’s a separate SMS package that also expires every 30 days. This is so confusing.
Now I need to figure out how to import my work contacts to this new number–without using USB, Bluetooth, or a synchronization suite.
Back to manual I guess.
I'm currently working on a cover story very close to my heart.
How close?
A part of the article looks into the case of cell phone addiction.
I have found a study on the subject which describes the behavior and the symptoms of an addict.
*Constant need to check SMS – check
*"Ghost Effects" – check
*Chasing first high with newer, more advanced phones – check
*Never turns phone off – check
*Uneasy feeling when forgetting phone at home/office – check
I'm a phone addict!
Well, as if the whole blogging from BlackBerry thing isn't giving away early signs at all.
~
Sent via BlackBerry® from AIS
