tech ronin

Treo 600 teases

I just saw this little photo of the unreleased Treo 600 on Gizmodo today (posted Thurs). treo|central had the story. Handspring reps mentioned a Sep/Oct release date. As a combo cell phone and PDA, it looks really cool! Much slimmer than the Tungsten C I was flirting with on Thursday.

My AT&T cell plan ran out May 1st, so I am in the market for some kind of cell plan or cell phone. My Motorola v60 is a very good cell phone - as long as you don't want to synch it to your computer or use it as a PDA. Its teeny-tiny, low-res screen is useless for reading email or web content.

Of course, I have a Treo 90, so, technically, I don't need to have a cell phone that is a PDA. except that, even carrying both my v60 and Treo 90, I'm still not able to surf or email without lugging my Titanium Powerbook around. What I like about the Treo 600 is that it (1) wouldn't be too bulky as a phone, (2) would be a great keyboard-laden PDA, (3) looks slim and light, (4) would move me closer in my quest for the holy grail of 24/7 internet access given a decent data service plan.

Googling by author

I'm probably the last person to consult about Google rankings. But, that said, I'm certain that the rankings are based primarily on how many links a particular post or site has. I want to put my two cents in for giving substantial weight to the author as well.

When we surf the net, we are often surfing for interesting people not just interesting places or specific information. Google should keep track of how many hits and links a particular author has across all their websites, blogs, comments, etc. Couldn't the author be part of the xml so that Google's bots can easily gather and compile that data? I guess there's a potential privacy issue here, but the information is out there anyway...

Second, web standards people and leading edge developers, if you are listening, we need end-user tools to help us more effectively surf these info waves for people. For that matter, show me the top 1000 authors or maybe bloggers on the Net by category. It needs to be a big number because the last thing we need is to filter out the new, creative and minority fringes. Diversity in cyberspace is akin to diversity in nature - it's crucial.

An anonymous comment on Derrick Story's post today about finding music at the Apple Store is the music surfing analog re looking for people: "More than discovering a song for me is discovering an artist who you can relate to. It feels like a friend you don't talk to often but no matter what you've both been through you always have some common ground."

Tungsten C tempts

I'm always on the lookout for the perfect handheld from which to take notes, read and communicate. These days, what I read has links to other sources, so wireless is essential. Writing on paper doesn't cut it. My PowerBook, at 5.4 lbs, is still too big for walks to my local hangouts. The Tungsten-C may be the answer.

Upside: A keyboard is a must - it's faster and more convenient than graffiti 1 or 2. The beefy 400 mhz cpu zooms through large documents and graphics. The screen is 320x320 and absolutely gorgeous! The 64 mb RAM seems roomy. Bundled web and email software are good. Wi-fi is way faster than cellular or bluetooth and will synch briskly with my Powerbook. I can add an SD bluetooth card! Voice over IP is a possibility this summer - not sure what that's worth yet, but still.

Downside: the TC is nowhere near as sexy as the Zire 71. No camera. Mono out for some unknown reason (a user review claims you can stick a mono-to-stereo adapter in and get stereo out). At .7 inches thick and 6.3 oz, it's bulky and heavy by Palm V standards. No almost always-on cellular wireless. Web browsing is slow compared to wi-fi on my Powerbook. Finally, I'm worse than broke and $450 sounds like a lot right now... but, the Dow broke 9000 yesterday so maybe my financial fortunes are on the verge of a sudden turnaround ;-). Hope springs eternal.

Bottom-line: The TC is the one... until the next "one" comes along any day now. Non-vapor close contenders are the Sony Ericsson P800 cell phone - no keyboard, the new color Blackberry - too corporate? and color Danger Hiptop - cheaper. Gadget freaks of the world, please weigh in on this dilemma. Should I stay or should I go?

Apple wooing independents

Apple is putting on a private showing for hundreds of indie label reps tomorrow. Looks like they're getting serious about expanding music store content. Go Steve! (MTV has the details.)

Update: Apple's Music Store

I'm listening to my Purchased Music playlist. I've acquired twenty-two songs from the store so far. This is a great little list with 14 artists - some old, some new. About 50-50. Best money I ever spent on music - 22 bucks buys a lot when you buy one song at a time. 1.6 hours of music iTunes tells me.

Just bought a couple more new releases tonight by Jewel and the Eagles. Yum! It's times like these that make me love Steve Jobs and his bold, determined perfectionism!

Blog beginner check-in

Month 1 discoveries:

1) I can write better than I thought. I like my own writing - parts of it at least - when I edit it ;-). I tend to put up my thoughts unedited - I can't resist the instant gratification - it's a rush to push that post button! Being out here in public is a great motivator, though, so my creative faculty clicks in and has me hurry to put in some quick fixes and edits.

2) This is heart work for me. Making the effort to write well makes me want readers. I don't want the good stuff to be missed by people who might benefit or find it interesting. I better get a counter installed so I can track every visitor for encouragement if nothing else.

3) It feels good getting these thoughts written down. A fair bit of it does have some lasting value and it has more value outside my head than in.

4) I'm thrilled with my new blog design. I spent about a day with my reference books and experimenting with stylesheet colors, text, spacing, borders etc. Now, when I look at my blog, it spurs me on. One reason I chose Movable Type was so that I could personalize the design.

5) This is big fun, so I'll keep learning, improving, writing and, frankly, looking for ways to expand my readership.