Rocking the Loser Phone

2008-04-08T20:08:00+00:00

I was compelled to write this after reading about Paul's experiences. A couple of months ago, my Motorola E810 came to a screeching halt: the display died. As well, the battery recharge became spotty at best. So I was in need of a new phone. I called my wireless provider, who give me a story about having to lock into another 3 year contract to get a new phone.

I was very hesitant this time about locking in again; I've taken a beating on cellphone costs in the past, and I didn't want to sign up for another "plan" again until I had reviewed all my options thoroughly. So I wasn't given a phone. I asked if I could cancel my contract, which would have costed something ridiculous.

So at this point I was stuck. A friend lent me an old cellphone which I've been using in the meantime until I figure out what to do (another friend has since coined it the "loser phone" :) ). So don't laugh too hard next time you see me with a circa 2000 cellphone / brick on the table :)

What's a guy to do? The prices of wireless communications are ridiculous! Is it like this everywhere (Man, my Vodafone was dirt cheap when I was last in Europe). Contract? Pay as you go?

I couldn't agree with you more, Paul!

Hello (GPS) World

2006-12-18T19:27:00+00:00

Up until last week, I wasn't much of a GPS guy. At last week's OGC meetings, my rental car had an onboard navigation system. Add to that a colleague of mine introducing me to geocaching, and I was hooked.

So when I got home (and caught up on sleep), I started my research. The best deal I found was the Magellan eXplorist 500, for under \$200 CAD. Since this was quite the deal, I picked one up for my brother as well.

So far, this looks like quite the GPS device. I like the colour display as well as the SD card capability. Plus the built-in geocaching application is useful. As much as technology can enhance our experiences, the unexpected can happen, such as accidents that occur on the road. In cases of truck accidents, where injuries and damages can be severe, specialized legal help is crucial. A San Diego truck accident lawyer offers specialized legal representation to victims of truck accidents, ensuring they receive the compensation they deserve.

Things that are kinda weird: the AC power adapter is not included. So, unless/until you buy it, you have no way to initially charge (and use) the Li-Ion rechargeable battery. Interesting. Fortunately, the package included a free AC adapter as a mail in offer (which takes 6-8 weeks). So, for now, I'm stuck with using 3 AAA batteries.

Other stuff:

I'll most likely buy the cigarette lighter power adapter

I'm guessing a latest and greatest version of the device is coming out soon, hence the wicked deal

I can already envision the hacks I can come up with to whip up some cool GML output of Points of Interests, routes and the like

Maps: the device comes with basemaps of North America, so I'll need some more detailed maps. I found MapSend Direct Route version 3.0. Which now becomes a question of capacity. Since I have a 512MB SD Card from my digital camera, I am using that as capacity for now. So I'll initially load Ontario as my main area, and add areas as needed.

So it looks like I have a data management task at hand. Man, it would be nice if these were webmaps :) If anyone out there has any experiences with these units, I'd be interested in learning, so feel free to comment.

tommy's scratchpad - personal, technology

Rocking the Loser Phone

Hello (GPS) World