Posted by marshall
Thu, 24 Feb 2005 00:50:00 GMT
I am really liking Handmark Express for the Treo. Just today I was looking up a business in the virtual "411" program. It gave me the list of search results, I tapped on the one I wanted, and then I tapped on a button to get a map. From there I could pick an address from the Treo's contact list as the starting location and it would give me turn-by-turn directions. The integration is very nice indeed.
I must say, though, that the label on the envelope containing the Express software contains what must be the most ridiculous statement I've ever seen on a software product:
The license is inside the envelope. So...opening the seal means I agree to the license. But I can't read the license without opening the seal. The license could say anything! Maybe it says they can come by and help themselves to my fridge. Maybe it commits me to giving them my house. Maybe it says they can kill me with some poisonous substance also hidden inside the envelope. How am I to know?
"You picked the box! Let's see what's in the box! ... Nothing! Absolutely nothing! Stupid! You're so stupid!"
Well, I picked the box, and it turns out it was just a standard license agreement. But the packaging is still ridiculous.
Posted in Gallimaufry, Smartphones
Posted by marshall
Thu, 24 Feb 2005 00:38:00 GMT
Dad flew in to Anaheim last week for the NRB conference and stayed an extra couple of days with us. I took a day off, which we spent going for coffee, visiting a mall, and having some good burgers. It wasn't very long -- he came to Redlands Wednesday evening and had to leave early Saturday morning -- but we had a good time.
Posted in Pictures
Posted by marshall
Wed, 16 Feb 2005 02:21:43 GMT
Nothing says "matching multi-colored precious jewels in the depths of space" quite like an 80's-inspired easy-listening synthesizer soundtrack. Chaining explosive gems is cool, but don't blow away your hypercube!
There have been many times over the past couple of months that I've thought about posting something, but then I realize that the things about which I would post depend on knowledge of previous events about which I have not yet posted. It would require a good bit of writing to explain how Josh Arieli got me interested in the finer points of GSM cell phone technology, how I've been waiting for several months for the Sony Ericsson S710a to be released, how a brief experience with Dad's Treo 600 got me hooked on Palm-based phones with keypads, and how the Treo 650 collected all of my most-desired features into one hand-held quad-band GSM communicator thingie. But all of that would be required in order to adequately explain my elation at the arrival of a package from FedEx the other day. And so I go back to playing some addicting blow-up-the-diamonds game that happens to have an excellent Palm OS incarnation. Not to mention a soundtrack that channels the spirit of the Amiga MODule scene with an uncanny talent.
And so, in an effort to catch up to the modern day and pave the way for the blog postings of the future, let me explain the events of the past several months.
No...there is too much. Let me sum up.
There's the mini-golf booth at Halloween Happenin', the WxRuby rich-client intranet project at MAF, the surreal Bond concert, the weekend at Disneyland, and Adam and Britany's Thanksgiving visit. There's the Moody Aviation student that stayed with us, the Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Marathon, the reading of the Christmas story in a barn, and the visit of Lara's dad for Christmas (he particularly liked seeing the Queen Mary). There's New Years in Chicago, the announcement that MAF isn't moving until Summer 2006, and the discovery that Carl's Jr. in Boise has free wireless internet access. There's the power surge that hit the iMac and wiped it out for three weeks (the data was recovered and it's on a UPS now). There's Lara's piano lessons, Beth's visit for Lara's birthday, and a guest from Chicagoland visiting for Trinity's women's ministries internship. Gourmet Pizza Shoppe still has the Bart Simpson, Casa Maya still has Taco Tuesday, the Outback still has Alice Springs Chicken, but El Torito Grill is no longer serving chocolate espresso creme brulee.
And that just about brings us up to the present.
Now that that's all as clear as the streaked windshield of a California car caught in the first rains of winter, I'll return to detonating pretty rocks and waiting for inspiration to hit, secure in the knowledge that I can post freely without pages of explanation. Inspiration's pretty random, though, so I wouldn't stay up too late waiting if I were you.
Posted in News
Posted by marshall
Thu, 03 Feb 2005 19:47:14 GMT
The vending machine this week has both of my favorite Hostess delectables: chocolate frosted donettes and blueberry mini-muffins. The only trouble is that they're mixed in with some non-Hostess fakes, so I have to wait for some poor unsuspecting soul to buy one of the counterfeits before I can swoop in to collect the newly available True Snacks.
Posted in Gallimaufry
