My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on October 8, 2009

As a long time Sprint (and previously Nextel) customer, I was the first to complain to friends about poor service and even poorer customer service, but the past year or so there has been a significant and noticeable improvement. After having a few issue with my Palm Pre, I was reluctant contacted Sprint customer service (fear of frustration) but recently found them efficient, friendly and caring … and I even spoke with representatives in the U.S., not overseas.  One issue was solved by taking the the phone to a local Cincinnati area service center where it was tested and replaced by an in-person staff in about 45 minutes. The second issue was handled in an extremely friendly way and without a waste of time — yet to see if the Airave corrects reception and battery life issues with my Palm Pre.

The change in policy has no doubt come from the top and Sprint CEO Dan Hesse has made it a priority commenting “I’m very proud of the fact that for 18 months in a row now, our customer satisfaction scores have gone up” to PBS host Charlie Rose last month. I’m not the only one noticing improvement by Sprint, Laptop magazine did a small scale test comparing cellphone carrier too and there result gave decent grades to Sprint and reinforces my perceived seat of the pants findings.

Category: Cellphone | 2 Comments »
Tags: sprint

Posted By RichC on October 7, 2009

The new podcast listening app available for the Palm Pre has just improved the sophisticated smartphone ten-fold when in comes to listening to audio. On the heels of the iTunes sync webOS 1.2.1 release/repair/update, the App Catalog new arrival of Stitcher now makes listening to podcasts a cinch. After a quick download and install (providing the App Catalog is back in business), one can with a couple touches be listening to fresh updated podcasts without the usual subscribing, podcast catching and synchronization common to most mp3 iPod-like devices. Kinoma was great on the PalmOS, but Stitcher is first out of the gate on the Palm Pre.

Stitcher has been providing mobile audio to other devices including computers for a couple years and allows audio content to be aggregated, organized and shared on smartdevices. The content is up-to-date audio from business, sports, politics, entertainment, and current event providers and is well worth the application cost — it’s free.  I have found it one of the more exciting apps for the Pre and the fact that it utilizes both wifi connectivity and EVDO speed through the Sprint network, since I’m disorganized when it comes to setting up iTunes on my desktop to catch and synchronize podcasts. Last evening I comfortably listened to 50 minute CarTalk episode with 30% battery and still had plenty of juice before putting on the Touchstone induction charger. I can tell that from only a few hours of use that Stitcher is going to be one of my most used apps.

Category: Audio, Cellphone, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: mp3, palm, podcast, smartphone

Posted By RichC on October 6, 2009

I have been satisfied with my well used first generation Jawbone bluetooth earpiece and have found its noise canceling technology to work exceptionally well (old MP3 test). It is a bit cumbersome to wear regularly, especially in public, but has been a real help while in a car. I’ve taken to leaving in the earpiece in the vehicle since it has not been convenient to wear or carry in a pocket. For those times I’ve tried, I’ve bent and broken the ear fob as well as the brittle plastic speaker part that holds the rubber ‘earshoe’ … for lack of a more appropriate term. Repair parts weren’t cheap and the several Superglue attempts have gooped it up.

So … I’ve opted to buy the new generation 3 Jawbone Prime. It is smaller, lighter and more comfortable to wear. I’ve found the sound just as satisfactory as the original, although it looks just as fragile as the original. I do like the black color and am finding the very tiny blinking LED a plus (the brighter blinking lights in most BT earpieces are an annoyance when driving at night … especially reflecting off my driver-side door window). I’ve noticed that the company models the Jawbone Prime without the earloop in several marketing photos, but for me it might be better to use the loop? Nevertheless, I’m giving it a go without it just so I can safely carry it around in my shirt pocket.

Yes … I need a haircut! 😆

Category: Cellphone, Technology | 1 Comment »
Tags: jawbone, palm, prime

Posted By RichC on October 5, 2009

Unfortunately Adobe Flash is not available ‘just yet,’ bu t one can see from the demo that it is getting closer and looks to be yet another reason to patiently wait for the webOS upgrades.  As I’ve mentioned previously, the webOS 1.2 upgrade has been a great improvement on my Palm Pre and as a productivity device is now solid enough to have me finally acknowledging satisfaction with upgrading from the PalmOS Treo/Centro line of smartphones. No date given as to a release.

Announcement:

Adobe Systems Incorporated today unveiled Adobe Flash Player 10.1 software for smartphones, smartbooks, netbooks, PCs and other Internet-connected devices, allowing content created using the Adobe Flash Platform to reach users wherever they are. A public developer beta of the browser-based runtime is expected to be available for Windows® Mobile, Palm® webOS and desktop operating systems including Windows, Macintosh and Linux later this year.

Category: Cellphone, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: adobe, flash, palm, smartphone, webos

Posted By RichC on October 4, 2009

We are continuing to plant trees of variety in hopes one day a mature woods will be part of our way-backyard. Thankfully I have a brother who is particularly astute as to varieties that grow in our area and enjoys a hobby business of growing trees from seedling — his current catalog. His love of conservation when it comes to hardwoods and reforestation was helpful in selecting a few new trees from his nursery was appreciated … along with the assistance in planting. Thanks Ron.

For the record, here’s a listing of the trees planted on October 4th, 2009 — now to figure out how to protect them from deer!

Category: Environment, Personal, Photos | 2 Comments »
Tags: native, ohio, plants, reforestation, trees

Posted By RichC on October 3, 2009

While picking up some touch up paint today, I saw the first couple 2010 model TDIs. Here’s a nice looking diesel Sportwagen in a Plat Grey color (Palm Pre photo) … and sporting the new front end. It definitely looks ‘sporty’ … although this one was the DSG transmission.

Category: Automotive, Biodiesel, Volkswagen | No Comments »
Tags: diesel, sportwagen, tdi, vw

Posted By RichC on October 2, 2009

Volkswagen diesel fans have been waiting  a few years for the return of the Golf (Rabbit) TDI. It’s due arrive to North American shores as a 2010 model. Shockingly the four door 2010 Golf TDI will be priced $150 cheaper than the four door gasoline powered Rabbit: base price $19,890. See Motor Trend’s Wide Open Throttle column.

UPDATE Oct. 6, 2009 — Although as pricing goes, another source doesn’t seem to agree? Here’s the pricing release sheet posted by the Kicking Tires blog:

Category: Automotive, Biodiesel, Volkswagen | No Comments »
Tags: diesel, golf, tdi, volkswagen, vw

Posted By RichC on September 30, 2009

While traveling  a couple hundred miles from home today the battery in my 2006 Honda Pilot just died. No warning, no instrument panel lights, no discolored “eye” (still green) and NO juice. Fortunately I live in “middle America” where people are still friendly and motorist even stop to help each other out. Although I had my tool bag, my portable jump starter was sitting worthlessly in my garage at home — real bright Rich! Thankfully the good Samaritan had a set of jumper cables and I was off and amazingly still on time (early actually)  for my appointment in Akron. As I drove, I pondered … and yes Twittered … wondering  just what the best course of action should be.  I looked at the clock, I figured I could spare about 20 minutes to pick up a battery at service center. After checking my Sprint Navigation GPS app on my Palm Pre for nearby stores, I settled on a Walmart where a new battery set me back $75 plus a $9 refundable core charge. Thankfully the Honda Pilot has a simple battery bracket, decent cable clamps and made the swap a 15 minute deal — my only gripe is that my deep sockets are at home — and I still made my appointment with less than clean hands.

Hopefully it is ‘just the battery,’ … tomorrow may tell?

Cooler Fall weather has arrived – Columbus Ohio 9/30/2009

Category: Automotive | No Comments »
Tags: battery, honda, walmart

Posted By RichC on September 29, 2009

I waited until I arrived home today before risking the update to webOS 1.2 on my Palm Pre. It’s not that I’m overly paranoid, but I’m no longer comfortable taking that chance, having to swap phones last week — thank you Sprint. The download took about 5 minutes though the broadband connection and installation another five. After rebooting, I noticed my two bluetooth headsets didn’t pair — so add another couple minutes — but they were still registered (BT was off after the update too).

The feature I, and other Palm Pre users, have been waiting for was the web browser ‘cut and paste’ … and it was well worth it since it works great. Holding down the orange options key while swiping the text is all that is need to highlight, then touch the gestures area and ‘c’ (copy) key saves the text. Multi-task over to an email, appointment or memo and then touch gesture area with a ‘v’ (paste) inserts the text as easy as pie. As with text ‘copy and paste’ improvement, images can be saved to the phone or ‘shared’ (emailed) as well. Holding down the orange option key while touching the image on the screen brings up the menu to “share or save.” It also works great — well done Palm!

The update also adds more social networking synchronization with one’s LinkedIn profile, similar to the Pre’s sync with Facebook and Google. For developers of apps, they now support paying for third-party software on the App Catalog. For business users, the update improves support for Exchange security policies.

The webOS 1.2 update improves the calendar by permitting dialing phone numbers straight from the calendar application … I’m still waiting for a search feature (something I sorely miss that my Treo did). For people who use voicemail in an email … or voice memos, the update allows email users directly play WAV files that are attached. Personally it would be nice to have support for a few other audio files, especially the compress formats used by some voice to email services.

For music lovers, the Pre can now download music from Amazon online music stores, but will not permit syncing with Apple’s iTunes software. Hmm?

So far this is a good update … hopefully more to come every couple of months.

Click for TwitPic “shared” photo

Category: Cellphone | 4 Comments »
Tags: Cellphone, palm, smartphone, webos

Posted By RichC on September 29, 2009

Here’s a safety tip that came from a “Dear Heloise” clipping set to me by none other than my mom;  no matter how old I am she never stops being a mom.  Actually I don’t think she was really thinking about me, but most likely my son and daughter …  so I’ll forward them the newspaper clipping ‘as instructed’ when I’m done posting.

The lesson I learned years ago about “not putting you home address on luggage tags” is a practice that might be a good idea to apply to some of our electronic devices too. Just as hotel and airline luggage  may signal an unscrupulous character that someone is  away from home,  a cellphone or portable GPS unit can do the same and  make it pretty easy to locate HOME if such a waypoint is stored in memory.

I’ve listened to ‘mom’ when it comes to my luggage tags by including only my office address on all of our family’s luggage, but I haven’t been quite as careful with my cell phone database and definitely haven’t given much thought to precisely locating “HOME” in our GPS devices.

BTW, happy Birthday Mom.

Category: Cellphone, Misc, Technology, Travel | 2 Comments »
Tags: advice, GPS, safety