Tuesday, April 02, 2013
The Mobile Web
My cell has the WAP browser deal where you can roam the Internet and it's real cool and addictive. For instance when word first came out that we have a new Pope Francis I went on and found out within literally two minutes he had one lung since his teen days. Just the other day I was doing the Sunday crossword and couldn't get the drug used in the movie Awakenings so again I went on the mobile web and within not even five minutes had my answer: L-Dopa. Of course for real serious computer work you should have at least an iPad but it is fascinating just the same to have such information while on the go but there does seem to be limitations. Newsmax.com itself has a nice mobile site, that's a conservative newssite but I find with Drudge the page is just too vast and sometimes you'll get a message that says "Page too large - open mobile site." Browsing through some 'droid forums and other cyberdiscussions the other day and the things people get frustrated about like one guy wants to get the mobile version of a certain site on his laptop and it's really bothering him and I'm like why in hell would you even want to do that, are you that bored? Anyway for those with Blackberrys or any other kind of smartphone device ya got any technical advice or pointers?
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I have a Blackberry Curve. It was free from Verizon and that made it good for me. Blackberries of course are the redheaded stepchildren of the smartphone world, so many apps are not available just because there aren't as many BBs as there are Androids and so forth. I like it very much. I like the clicky little keyboard and I like giving my phone to people to have them look at a picture and watch them spend three minutes trying to scroll through the pictures by swiping at the screen before they realize that it isn't a touchscreen.
ReplyDeleteI guess your mobile net experience is only as good as your network. Mine is Verizon because that's the best signal by us (and still not enough to get a voice call) and also because I get the NCSE 20% discount. I have a feeling it would be a lot nicer if I had a better phone but it's okay.
Apps I use most and like best on my phone (and they are all free) are:
1.Cozi (search cozi.com) which is like a family organizer. We use it for shopping lists because he can sit at home and make the list on the computer and boom it comes up on my phone. It also has other things like a calendar but I really like the list.
2. Weather Channel, nuf said.
3. Bing maps. I have a lot of trouble with this app actually, it might be just that I'm stupid but I feel like if I understood it better it would do more for me but still it has pulled my butt out of a couple of tight spaces when my gps had an existential meltdown. I like that you can get directions that update based on your gps location.
4. Facebook. No question this is the one I use most.
5. Email. Just because.
6. Evernote. This is a really cool app that you install on your home computer and then you can save shots of web pages or other information and it will be accessible from your phone.
Miscellaneous apps I use: a calculator app, youtube, calendar app, couple of games, and a horoscope app.
That's about it. I don't think I use this stuff to its full potential mostly because I don't understand enough of it. But I make do.
I should say I use my phone more for the apps than I do talking to people.
ReplyDeleteAnd I forgot: I have a MedicAlert account and that information is all on the wallpaper of the phone (like my membership # and the medicalert phone # to get info if I'm hurt), but there is also a very nice free app you can get that has all your emergency medical information in it.
I also have a thing through Verizon where I have roadside assistance ($3/month) tied to the phone so if I am in anybody's car (or my own) and something happens I can get roadside assistance. This is nice because I do a lot of that roadtrip-by-myself thing. It was cheaper than AAA and I like that it isn't attached to a particular vehicle but to the phone.
All things considered I am attached to my phone but I am far more emotionally involved with my Kindle which I absolutely LOVE. I have a Kindle Touch which I got not last Christmas but the one before. It isn't the fancy kind and it's not color but it does have the touchscreen and it does the text to speech thing which I adore. I have over 400 books on it now and virtually all of them I got for free. Just recently I discovered that I can email PDF files to my Kindle and little Kindle faeries will convert it magically to Kindle format.... which resulted in a mass emailing of A LOT OF STUFF to my Kindle, mostly knitting patterns but a lot of spiritual stuff too. It goes with me everywhere. I have a couple of word games on it that I use fairly frequently but I am a huge reader and so it's the best gift I have ever gotten.
If I had to choose between Kindle and phone I'd go with the Kindle. Thankfully I don't have to choose!
Can that WAP device channel Fiorello LaGuardia ?
ReplyDeleteMy sister-in-law has a couple of iPads including a mini with the Wi-Fi and I asked her what about an iPad that you can get the Internet all the time on and she says that'll run you into about 150 more bucks. For me I'd go with the extra expense as if I got one I'd mostly be on the Net anyway and I don't want to be tied down to a McDonald's or a Starbucks.
ReplyDelete"I don't think I use this stuff to its full potential mostly because I don't understand enough of it."
ReplyDeleteI think part of this has to do with the instruction manuals which give only the most minimal details. I learned only so much from my smartphone manual and you pretty much gotta figure out things on your own as you go along as when you're on the mobile web how do you magnify the print but I figured that out. The tutorials on the Web are better but still not the most thorough.
"I should say I use my phone more for the apps than I do talking to people."
Talking shmalking, I too make the occasional call but I'm mostly on the mobile web and lately I've been having some better web experiences. I got a TracFone and was paying for an airtime card at an A&P yesterday and the older cashier said why don't I go with Boost Mobile as she said she was buying an airtime card practically every month and so she thought she had a good point until I told her my device triples whatever minutes I buy every time. She likes her cell mostly for the gabbing was my impression whereas I'm practically educating myself everyday on the mobile web and I just learned if I use my Wi-Fi it won't use up any minutes.
You're on a paranormal kick lately BB and I wonder if the NYC outfit and the Yonkers one are in some kind of competition with each other.
ReplyDeleteAll I have is a Regular Cell Phone and I rarely ever use it. It's basically just for Emergencies and Occasionally my husband will call me when I'm out, to inquire on how soon I will be home, or to ask me to pick up something at the Store. I have no reason to Desire having a Computer with me, though. I do enough of that when I'm Home.
ReplyDeleteNow word on the street is Apple is coming out with an iPhone 6, few years from now it'll be the iPhone 10S.
ReplyDeleteI can get a new phone (for free) in October. What I get will depend on what kind of phones they have for free, but I do like my Berry. I don't think I understand these folks who pay hundreds of dollars to get the newest phone. For one, it's going to be practically obsolete in six months because the fashion changes so much. Two, it's a magnet to get stolen. I think about this concept a lot. Like my truck. It's a 2006 Tacoma regular cab, has no power nothing (not even power windows) and it isn't 4wd. It has absolutely nothing anyone but me would want, so I never worry about anyone stealing it. Or my ipod. Scott got it for me in 2008, it's a shuffle, size of a matchbook. I don't know how many newer and better ones there are out there now but mine is just fine for me and I can't imagine anyone wanting to steal something you can buy now for like $15. So it seems to me sometimes that there's more benefits in having something that's old and less rather than new and more.
ReplyDeleteI guess the e-stuff is supposed to be convenient. I'm halfway through
ReplyDeletethe 1,375 keyword abbreviations for
texting..which is about as convenient as learning Mandarin.
..oops my landline is ringing!
I very rarely use abbreviations even when texting. I hate that Internet spelling shit.
ReplyDeleteIn local gubmint news, NC has tried (and failed) to establish an Official State Religion, has made it mandatory for kids to learn how to write in script and to memorize multiplication tables (I approve of this) and now wants to make welfare applicants (but not gun buyers) submit to background checks. Gotta love Pat McCrory. Not.
Oh, we have to protect the gun owners ...not matter how loony and dangerous.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link, BB. I Took the Time to read it and it does appear that there can be some Modification of the Gun Laws. What Frustrates me is that when People Debate about the Issue, they just Talk about all the Extremes and not about the Specifics. One Side thinks that the other side wants to do away with all of the Guns and the other side thinks that the First Side wants to do absolutely Nothing. In Reality, neither of these Extremes is True.
ReplyDeletePerhaps if we were more willing to talk about the Specifics, rather than the Extremes, we might actually get something Accomplished.
Lest this thread meander too much been thinking of doing another post-Newtown thread since it's still percolating out there.
ReplyDeleteSaty: "I don't think I understand these folks who pay hundreds of dollars to get the newest phone."
I mean this in all seriousness, though I'm not a psychologist I think it's a form of OCD.
I dunno. Some people are just all hot to have whatever's the newest. Me, I tend to go with what works. In our music room (yes we have one of those) I have a rotary phone. I love it. It has a real ring from a real bell and I like dialing it because it's nostalgic and all, but here's the real reason I keep it: when the power goes out, a rotary phone will continue to work. A cordless phone will not. So, maybe it's being cheap (though not really, you can get a phone for doody these days, a rotary will cost you because it's an antique) but really it's because I live in the effing WOODS and if I need to make a phone call when the power's out... I can.
ReplyDeleteMy HP laptop has apparently bit the bullet for real this time after about 7 years. I have to find a geek to get it to boot up long enough to get all my shit off it. I dunno, buying a new computer is a lot like moving into a new house. Exciting and all but a pain in the ass. I like it once it's settled.
I have to work a double tonight, gonna put this med adjustment to the test. I feel so flat but everyone says I'm not.
A communications circus out there:
ReplyDeletecellphones are legal, but jammers aren't. Years ago, it was the kids with boomboxes
that disturbed the peace. Now days....
I just have a plain cell phone but did decide to get a prepaid internet to go mi-fi device that can hook up to 5 devices to the internet. It's not the cost effective thing to replace home Internet, but on the go, I don't need to find wi-fi, and it is secure, too, no need for a smartphone either, so far am liking it!
ReplyDeleteHey Beth,
ReplyDeleteIt is good to see you. I had been Wondering where you had gone. Welcome back.
Beth has a happy place where everyone agrees with her. That's where she goes when the logic gets too much.
ReplyDeleteCome on, Satyavati. Play Nice. We all Need a Break once in awhile. My Religion is about Compassion and Grace, not the Continuous Placing of Judgement upon those who chose something other than Relentless and Continuous Arguing.
ReplyDeleteAt 125PM today I got called into a room because someone 'didn't look very good'. At 130PM we pronounced them dead.
ReplyDeleteIt was brutal, it was ugly, it was unexpected and it was fast.
I have seen a lot of people die and I consider it a privelege to be present at such a moment. On the other hand it takes a chunk out of you every time. This one wasn't pretty and it's proving harder to shake than usual for me. On the other hand I've been awake for 42 hours, I've been sick with a temperature for the last 48 and a lot of the emotional energy I probably needed to handle this for myself I spent helping my coworkers deal with it.
It's going to be a long night.
Hi Lista, yes, I have been busy, and I know you were away for a while yourself, good to see you are still around!
ReplyDeleteNot sure you actually know what logic is, Saty, or were you trying to be funny there? My happy place is with family and friends, and that is where I have been focusing my time, thanks for your concern.
I'm so Sorry to hear about your tough couple of days, Satyavati. If you are Sick with a Temperature, then shouldn't you be going home and getting some rest? You really shouldn't be working around all those Patients if you don't feel well. It is better not to Expose them to your sickness. Why hasn't your Boss sent you Home?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I do hope that you Feel better soon, both Physically and Emotionally as well. Perhaps it is Time for you to Find for yourself a Restful and Happy Place for the Sake of your own Peace and Health.
Lista: "Why hasn't your Boss sent you Home?"
ReplyDeleteFor the same reason my Boss didn't send me home when I was getting over my severe groin pull/sciatica (?)/possible Original Lyme leftover thingamajig. In today's workforce injuries and illnesses aren't even really acknowledged to exist and owing to all the chronic phony disability people over the years bosses probably become cynical over time. Yours is a nice sentiment though:)
If you are going to use the gadgets, you need the ability to
ReplyDeletemulti-task .
BB,
ReplyDeleteYes, but not a good idea while Driving or, as in the link, while in the Cock Pit of an Airplane.
Z-man,
What you are saying is rather Scary based on the Fact that Sickness should not be allowed around Food. It also shouldn't be allowed around Patients in a Hospital who for various different reasons have lower Immunities than Normal. This is simply not good.
Let me let you in on a little industry secret, many chefs go to work sick and that's why customers get sick sometimes while eating out. Why do chefs work sick in the first place? 'cause most bosses frown on calling out.
ReplyDeleteThe Health Department is the One that should probably put a stop to this. This would fall in the Category of an Necessary Regulation.
ReplyDeleteI agree. My friend and I were walking around White Plains yesterday on a warm balmy spring day here. Now White Plains in Westchester Cty. in NY is like a mini-NYC and so I lost count of all the people I saw walking and looking at their cell phones. First off it's dangerous but I was also thinking this is such a precious, valuable, high-tech device and yet people have them in their hands while walking over concrete for the most part and I'm like what if it fell? your $200-$500 phone with all your apps and everything, just one wrong move, flip of the hand. It's like these people don't even respect their own devices.
ReplyDeleteYikes! They are using drones right here in America! Next thing you know, this lady will be using them in her research.
ReplyDelete[conspiracy theory 12852 & B9827]
I guess the Concern is that the Government does not use them to Spy on us or to in some way run our lives. Private use of them is probably Ok.
ReplyDeleteI'm putting off on a cell/smart phone in hopes of impeding Kurzweil\'s Singularity .
ReplyDeleteInteresting. At work today they're gonna go with paperless paystubs in about a month or two. In other words you'll have to go online to see your paystub but while I'm modern-minded in certain ways I still like the old way of having my stubs in a plastic filebox from Staples. No longer do you get your cancelled checks in the mail anymore either, if you wanna see 'em you have to go online too. I think technology is outstripping us all.
ReplyDeleteYeh, I've felt quite Outstripped for quite some time.
ReplyDeleteThanks to my server data dumping with Google, my sole app, Blogger, works like a cub bear with mittens...
ReplyDeleteGetting back to the paperless paystubs and online cancelled checks it's not like you have a say in the matter either. Either get with the technology or get left behind.
ReplyDelete