Full featured browser coming to the Blackberry.

Although the iPhone seems to be catching all the buzz lately the Blackberry is still the number one selling Smartphone and it appears that RIM is planning on keeping it that way.

One of the features that launched the iPhone’s success is its true web browser. Until the iPhone was released web browsing via your phone was marginal at best. Sure you could visit websites but they were heavily compressed and the formatting was horrible. The iPhone’s Safari browser changed all that. Finally web browsing on your phone was an enjoyable experience.

Well it appears that RIM is planning to one up the iPhone. According to BusinessWeek, RIM recently purchased Torch Mobile. Torch Mobile develops web browsers for mobile phones based on WebKit. The open source project that Safari is also based on. It also appears that RIM is planning on adding full Flash support to their browser (According to Technorati). Something iPhone doesn’t have. This could be key since the majority of modern websites use Flash heavily.

As a devoted fan of the Blackberry Smartphone I hope this is true and RIM releases the new browser soon.   

The new Nokia Netbook

Five reasons not to be a long haul truck driver.

1. Being away from home.

As a married man with a child this is by far the biggest negative of being an over the road truck driver. On average I spend 3 to 4 nights a week away from home. When I do get home it’s usually around 8pm or latter. This leaves little time with the family and little time to do the normal things we all do when we aren’t working. Like cleaning the house, mowing the lawn, helping the kids with homework and just hanging around the living room relaxing.

2. Using public restrooms.

This may seem a bit petty but imagine if 80% of the time you used the restroom it was a public one. I am so sick of smelling strangers bowl movements. Yes, mine smell to. Everyone’s do, trust me on that. I’ve smelt enough to know.

3. Not being able to start the day with a shower.

If your hygiene isn’t important to you this may not matter to you but I do care about hygiene. Especially when I’m in public. Unless I spend the night at a truck stop, my home or a company terminal with showers I may not have an opportunity to shower until late in the afternoon if at all.

4. Being at the mercy of shippers and receivers.

In the trucking industry shippers and receivers set load and unload appointments that drivers must adhere to. Unfortunately these same shippers and receivers feel they aren’t obligated to also adhere to these appointments. Just because they set an appointment for say 8am and you arrive at or before that time doesn’t in any way mean that they will load/unload you at 8am. They will load/unload you when they get around to it and you will not complain about it.

5. Dealing with casual drivers.

A day doesn’t go by without some ahole flipping me the bird. Usually it’s because they are trying to merge onto the interstate and have no clue how to do so successfully. Traffic merging onto an interstate is supposed to do just that, merge. If you are unfamiliar with the word you should look it up in the dictionary. It does not mean that traffic currently traveling at highway speed should do whatever it takes to move out of your way. YOU are the one doing the merging! Also if you can’t come up with something better than flipping the bird then don’t even bother.

Blackberry Bold 9000 From AT&T Wireless.

Research in motion recently released one of the most powerful Blackberry devices ever. The Blackberry Bold 9000.  It comes with a 624Mhz processor, built in GPS, 2.0 MP camera with video recording, an amazingly bright 480×320 half VGA screen and much more. I’ve been using the Bold for several weeks now with the AT&T network. I upgraded from a Blackberry Pearl 8100 on the T-Mobile network. Needless to say the Bold was a major upgrade. So far I am very pleased with this phone and AT&T.

Some of my favorite features: 1. Full QWERTY keyboard. 2. Built in system wide spell check. 3. Media player with H.264 video playback. 4. Wi-Fi with WPA support. 5. The look and solid feel.

 

This phone is loaded with great applications for both the business user and casual user alike. With the included version of Documents to Go you are able to view and edit Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint files. Of course the Blackberry is famous for its push email and with the Bold’s powerful processor and great screen mobile email has never been better. It also includes many applications for non-business use and now with RIM’s app store you can add just about any type of app you want.

 

PROS	CONS
Very solid feel. Great look. Fast processor. Bright and clear LCD. Fast 3G Data. Video Recording. Mpeg4 H.264 video playback. Wide selection of 3erd party applications.	Blackberry App store is very slow. AT&T phone support reps aren’t very knowledgeable. AT&T charges approx $60 extra to tether with laptops. PayPal is the only available payment method at Blackberry’s app store.

I would definitely recommend this phone to any one that needs a smart phone for business and casual use. RIM has been in the smart phone game much longer then their competitors. They are still out selling the iPhone and will continue to for some time to come. I would also highly recommend that you make your next cell phone purchase from the great folks at Car Toys Janzen Beach in Portland Oregon. Their sales staff is one of the best I’ve ever dealt with and the prices cant be beat.

Ten reasons why I like Windows Vista

Microsoft released their latest operating system, Windows Vista in January 2007. It replaced Windows XP released in October 2001. After more than a year of use there is still a lot of controversy as to the quality of Windows Vista. People that haven’t even used it are making claims that it is garbage and doesn’t work well. I listen to Leo Laporte’s Tech Guy radio show every week and to this day I still hear concern from callers buying new PCs. They ask if they can still get a new PC with XP. When asked why they don’t want Vista they say they’ve heard bad things about Vista. I believe most if not all of what is being said about Vista is wrong. I have been using it for over a year now and have had little to no trouble with it and I’m not the only one.

“Windows Vista is a major Windows update that deserves your attention. It is, at turns, both revolutionary and evolutionary.” Paul Thurott

"Windows Vista is beautiful," The New York Times

Leo Laporte recommends Windows Vista for new PCs on his radio show.

So here are ten reasons why I believe Windows Vista is a good choice when purchasing a new PC.

1. UAC (User Account Control). UAC is a much needed security improvement. It has been available in Windows NT versions since the NT platform first came out. It was unfortunately hard to configure and implement until now.
2. Instant Search. This feature allows users to search for almost anything on their PC directly from the start menu. It is very fast and works great. You can search for and start programs just by typing their name. Need to find something on your PC, just start typing and let instant search do the rest.
3. Parental Controls. Microsoft has made it safer to let your children use a PC. Parental control lets parents control nearly every aspect of their children’s PC usage. It is now easy to block adult websites, limit game play, monitor instant messenger and much more.
4. Internet Explorer 7. IE 7 isn’t an exclusive feature of Vista but when used with Vista it offers much greater protection from male ware. With the addition of protected mode in Vista IE 7 is now by far the securest browser available.
5. Windows Flip and Flip 3D. If you’re a power user or just a casual user this amazing new feature will save you time. With the click of a mouse or pressing alt-tab you can easily navigate through all of your currently open windows. You have to see this feature in action to fully appreciate it.
6. Windows Firewall. The new firewall in Vista is much easier to configure than the Windows XP firewall. With just a few mouse clicks you can open or close ports and much more.
7. Windows Media Player 11. Windows Vista now comes with everything you need to play DVDs. You no longer need a third party application. Best of all Vista supports HD DVD content.
8. Windows Backup and Restore Center. Have you ever had a PC crash causing you to loose data? Who hasn’t, this new tool makes automatic backups much easier. Set it up to work with an external had drive and your worries are over.
9. Windows Remote Assistance. This is a real live safer if you need help or are a help provider. With this feature it is much easier then ever before to get help or give help. Via a remote networked connection you can securely allow a tech support person to take control of your system and fix it for you.
10. Windows Photo Gallery. I get a lot of use out of this addition to Vista. Organizing and editing photos is a snap.

These are just a few of the amazing and useful features in Windows Vista. I truly believe that Microsoft listened to users over the past decade and Vista is a major improvement over past versions of Windows. With any new operating system you’re going to have a learning curve that may cause some frustration. I believe that once anyone has spent some time in Vista they will be happy with what Microsoft has produced. If you’re purchasing a new PC you can’t go wrong with Vista.

How to put video on the Blackberry Pearl 8100

The Blackberry Pearl comes with a very useful media player that works great and looks good. The only problem is it seems to be very picky about playing video. The video has to be in a specific format or it won’t play.

There are several ways to format video for playback on the Pearl 8100. The most straight forward way that I have found is to use Roxio Media Manager for BlackBerry Smartphones. It is freely available from RIM.

Steps involved to put properly formatted video on the Blackberry Pearl for playback.
1. In order to play videos you should first get a supported large capacity microSD card. This step is not required but is highly recommended.
2. Download needed software from RIM HERE
3. Install above listed software. It includes needed media manager software.
4. Then after installing software run the media manager. On my Windows Vista unit it was under: Start>All Programs>Media Manager 9>Creator. 

5. Then click on Manage Media in upper right corner. 

6. Now all you need to do is drag files from top window into bottom window. Media manager will ask you what format you want to use. Use covert for optimal playback. 

7. Disconnect your phone and enjoy.

Notes:
1. Don’t forget to connect your phone to your PC.
2. Make sure that you browse to the videos file on your phone in the lower window of media manager. You need to put videos in the correct place so you can easily find them on your phone for latter playback.
3. When you connect your phone you need to enable mass storage mode.
4. In order to find videos files on your PC via media manager you can use the browser in the upper left window.
5. I have placed video files as large as 600MB and as little as 5MB on my phone. So far all have played back very easily. You can tweak the settings in media manager to better suit your needs.

How to use the T-Mobile Blackberry Pearl phone as a modem.

You can use your T-Mobile phone to connect to the internet via a laptop. The speeds are pretty slow but if all you need to do is check your email or do some light surfing it works fine.

All you need is a T-Mobile Blackberry Pearl 8100 and the data cable that came with it.

The steps below have only been tested on a Windows Vista laptop and a T-Mobile phone.

Step by step instructions:

1. First you need to have the BlackBerry Desktop Software 4.1 or later installed on your computer.

2. Set up an Internet APN.

1. Start>Control Panel>Hardware and Sound>Phone and Modem Options.
2. In the Phone and Modem Options window, click the Modems tab.
3. Select Standard Modem and click Properties.
4. Click on Change Settings.
5. In the Standard Modem Properties window, click the Advanced tab.
6. In the Extra initialization commands field, type the following: +cgdcont=1,"IP","wap.voicestream.com"
7. Click OK.
8. In the Phone and Modem Options window, click OK.

3. Now you need to set up a new dial up connection.

1. Start>Control Panel>Network and Internet>Network and Sharing Center.
2. Click on Set up a connection or network in the left column.
3. Click on Set up a dial-up connection.
4. Click next.
5. Click Standard Modem.
6. In the Dial-up phone number field put *99#
7. In the User name and Password fields put you’re my T-mobile username and password. That is what worked for me. I’m not 100% sure on this step. You may need to experiment some.
8. Click connect.

4. After creating the dial-up network connection, open BlackBerry Desktop Manager and select Connection Settings from the Options menu. Instead of selecting USB-PIN, select the COM port (COM3 for example). Check Enable USB-to-serial converter compatibility. Important: Do not click on Detect. Click OK instead. BlackBerry Desktop Manager shows disconnected. You should now be able to connect successfully

Notes:
1. BlackBerry Desktop Manager must be running for the tethered modem to function.
2. Step 3 won’t make a connection until you also complete step 4. I guess you could reverse them if you want.
3. During this procedure, do not operate the BlackBerry® Browser or any third-party applications on the BlackBerry device. An active data session may interfere with the modem connection. Also, make sure an Ethernet connection is not active at the same time.

Parable of a spoiled child.

Once upon time there was a man whose name we will not yet mention. He came to God and complained that this planet was not good enough for him, and said he wanted a Heaven of Pearly Gates. And God first pointed out the moon in the sky and asked him if it was not a good toy, and he shook his head. He said he didn’t want to look at it. Then God pointed out the blue hills in the distance and asked him if the lines were not beautiful and he said they were common and ordinary. Next God showed him the petals of the orchid and the pansy, and asked him to put out his fingers and touch their velvety lining and asked if the color scheme was not exquisite, and the man said, “NO”. In his infinite patience, God took him to an aquarium, and showed him the gorgeous colors and shapes of Hawaiian fishes, and the man said he was not interested. God then took him under a shady tree and commanded a cool breeze to blow and asked him if he couldn’t enjoy that, and the man replied again that he was not impressed. Next God took him to a mountain lake and showed him the light of the water, the sound of the winds whistling through a pine forest, the serenity of the rocks and the beautiful reflections in the lake, and the man said that still he could not get excited over it. Thinking that this creature of his was not mild tempered and wanted more exciting views, God took him then to the top of the Rocky Mountains, the Grand Canyon, and caves with stalactites and stalagmites, and geysers, and sand dunes, and the fairy finger-shaped cactus plants on a desert, and the snow on the Himalayas, and the cliffs of the Yangtse Gorges, and the granite peaks of the Yellow Mountains, and the sweeping cataract of the Niagara Falls, and asked him if he had not done everything possible to make this planet beautiful to delight his eyes and his ears and his stomach, and the man still clamored for a Heaven with Pearly Gates. “This planet,” the man said, “is not good enough for me.” “You presumptuous, ungrateful rat!” said God. “So this planet is not good enough for you. I will therefore send you to Hell where you shall not see the sailing clouds and the flowering trees, nor hear the gurgling brooks and live forever till the end of your days.” And God sent him to live in a city apartment. His name was Christian.

Lin Yutang

Dell Inspiron E1505 laptop review.

I bought this new laptop from Dell computers several months ago just after Windows Vista was released. I have been using it as my primary PC since then. I use it for web development, general computing, gaming and DVD viewing.

It is a very well built unit. It has a solid quality feel to it. The key pad is well sized so typing is comfortable. My laptop before this was an old IBM 600X Thinkpad so this was a major upgrade for me.
I have never really been a fan of consumer style laptops. I have spent many hours shopping for laptops and most consumer units feel cheap and fragile. When you pick them up, they feel similar to my son’s $50 Batman laptop. One good drop and they would probably come apart. Although I still prefer commercial grade hardware like thinkpads. I am very happy with the feel of this Dell.

Pros-
1. Solid well built case.
2. Good design, not to flashy.
3. Good performance even when playing modern games.
4. Beautiful bright screen.
5. Media direct is great for quick viewing of DVDs.

 

Cons-
1. No PC card slots. It only has the new express card slot.
2. Windows Vista still has some issues working with third party applications.
3. Dell still insists on preloading junk applications.

Dell computers service/sales pros/cons
Yes I had to add a special Pros/cons list just for the customer service side of buying a PC from Dell.

Pros-
1. Dells hardware is sturdy and looks good.
2. Their hardware support staff is good.
3. I don’t need software support.

Cons-
1. I ordered this unit via phone. The sales woman was nice but basically just said what ever she thought would make the sale. She even told me that if I wasn’t happy with Windows Vista I could use Windows XP instead. Of course I knew this was incorrect. The only way Dell could do this would be to provide both versions on recovery CD. She insisted that all I would need to do is contact tech support and they would tell me how to do it. Of I tested this theory out a few weeks ago and of course they said it couldn’t be done without buying a copy of Windows XP, DUH!. Basically she lied. I guess Dell is using failed used care sales people now.
2. One of the bonuses offered at the time I placed my order was $75 Dell dollars. Talk about a joke. After several months and multiple emails and still no sign of my Dell dollars. Then after more emails and live chats with customer support they offered me $50 Dell dollars to resolve the issue. Okay maybe my math isn’t to good but isn’t $50 less then $75 ? Nice try Dell. Any way after all this I finally got the $75 credited to my account. Sounds fair right? Well maybe to Dell. The credit went entirely to interest so in the end Dell took $75 dollars out of one of their accounts and put it in another.

T-Mobile Blackberry Pearl 8100

The blackberry pearl is a slick functional smart phone. It has all the functionality of a blackberry without the ugly looks and bulky size. Plus it has some added multimedia functions and a built in camera that are not included in the traditional blackberry.

I have been using this phone for about 3 weeks now and I am more than happy with it. Combined with T-Mobiles service it is a great compact smart phone. I use this phone for email and voice calls. The phones battery easily lasts 3 days with moderate voice and data usage. The email functions are very easy to use and set up. So far I’ve only set it up with my gmail account. The process was very simple and fast. It took me a little while to get used to the keyboard but now that I have I don’t think I will ever go back to a standard phone keyboard. The multimedia features on the phone are also easy to use. The camera takes decent photos and makes emailing them a breeze. The voice functions are good also. The phone has a built in speaker phone that is very useful. It is loud and can be activated with one key. I think my favorite thing is the to do list. It is extremely versatile.

T-Mobiles service works well in most of the areas I travel. I have used it from central California to Tacoma, Washington. It has a stronger signal in more places than my sprint phone that I just replaced with this phone. The data service is much better than Sprints. I have yet to have a dropped call. T-Mobiles customer is support is very good also. I have only had to call them a few times so far and I am very happy with them. The wait times are minimal and the support techs are friendly.

More info

Feature Description
E-mail* Send and receive messages from personal and work e-mail.
Bluetooth® wireless technology
Lose the wires and keep your hands free for more important things  Bluetooth lets you connect your phone to your headset or computer wirelessly.
Quad-band world phone (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
Use this phone in any of the countries where T-Mobile provides GPRS service.
Real web browsing* Get more pages and better Web content delivered efficiently to your phone.
myFaves capable* Get unlimited any-network calling to any 5 people with a myFaves plan.
T-Mobile Internet ready (GPRS & EDGE) GPRS is a wireless data service with speeds up to 56 Kbps, while EDGE is up to three times faster than GPRS for compatible devices. Both enable you to access Internet and e-mail service wherever T-Mobile has coverage.
1.3 Megapixel camera Take high-quality pictures from your phone that you can enlarge or print.
Music player Play your favorite music wherever you are.
AOL®, Yahoo!®, MSN®, and ICQ® Instant Messenger*
Send and receive instant messages with Yahoo!, MSN, AOL, or ICQ.
Text messaging* The quick, quiet way to stay connected.
Speakerphone Put down the phone and keep talking with a convenient speakerphone.
SureType QWERTY Keyboard Familiar layout lets you type messages easily without scrolling for the letter you want.
Easy text input Predictive text input anticipates what you’re typing to make sending messages faster and easier.
*Additional subscription fees may apply
*Additional fees may apply