The Zodiac is dead and Tapwave leaves customers hanging

After reading an interview from Scott on Tapland a few months ago we knew that Tapwave was changing the focus of its business and that the Zodiac had a limited lifespan. However, it was quite a shock to see on their website this morning that all support and service were discontinued back on Monday, 25 July. Don't you think it would have been nice to give people a week or two as a heads up as to what was going on? Man, talk about a horrible way for a company to treat the diehards that stuck with the Zodiac. This is really made more disappointing by the fact that many applications have to be signed by Tapwave and that is no longer going to happen so people are stuck with whatever they purchased and cannot install new Tapwave optimized apps like the nWeb browser, etc. and cannot transfer those applications to another device. This also opens up many questions about devices that were sent in for repair/replacement and those that recently received a RMA and didn't send it back in yet. And just think, I almost bought another Zodiac at CompUSA instead of the PSP a couple months back. We may see these going up on ebay soon, but I will be avoiding the temptation primarily due to the proprietary signing of applications strategy.

SanDisk service ROCKS and my Penn & Teller showing

I mentioned some customer service experiences I recently went through and just received a replacement 1GB Memory Stick Duo from SanDisk. Their online system was a pleasure to use and they replaced my dead Memory Stick with no questions asked. I still don't quite understand how the card could get corrupted so easily, but at least SanDisk stands by their products. I can now load up the episodes of Buck Rogers, Stargate, and BattleStar Galactica that I have been recording on my desktop PC using Beyond TV and the excellent PSP Movie Creator software.

BTW, my Penn & Teller Bulls%#t episode, The Best, will be airing a few times next week, starting with August 1st at 10:00pm Pacific Time. I am going to try to record it on my computer so I can digitally edit out all the profanity and share it with family and friends.

The iPod Shuffle is very cool

I recently ranted about my daughter's iPod Mini static issue on Geek.com and just ended up sending the Mini off to iPodResQ.com for service. I should hear back from them tomorrow about the problem and see what the cost is to fix it. I was pretty ticked at Apple for the poor construction of the Mini since my daughter probably only used it for less than 50 hours over the last year and it spent most of its time in her drawer. I was thinking of personally boycotting them as a result, but I have owned Apple products since 1989 and that was just unreasonable.

My wife loved using the Mini in her car to take along her iTunes purchased and ripped music and as a result I bought her a 1GB iPod Shuffle yesterday for her birthday. CompUSA had a deal for $130 and a $15 iTunes gift card. The store I went to did not have any more gift cards so they just took another $15 off the iPod Shuffle making it $115 for a 1GB model. I brought it home and gave it to her and then set it up with her music and so far she has about 160 songs with about half the Shuffle full. I have to admit Apple makes some incredible products and the Shuffle continues that tradition with an amazingly small and functional flash digital music player. I am impressed by its size and simple operation, which is perfect for my wife's use in her car where she used to spend way too much time looking at the iPod Mini's display and selecting songs. I am now testing out a cassette adapter and should be reviewing a FM transmitter for Geek.com as well as an aluminum Shuffle case to protect the Shuffle while in her car. My middle daughter loved the Shuffle and said she may be asking Santa for one this Christmas. Shoot, I may be asking Santa for one for myself too :)

Considering a future switch to Cingular

Peter and I were chatting yesterday about the Treo 650 and he came up with a good suggestion that I am seriously considering which is a switch from T-Mobile to Cingular. I called and found out that I am obligated with T-Mobile until November, but could then switch after that and get a RAZR for my wife and Treo 650 for me at a price around $200 for both via Amazon or other places. I need to check out the family rate plans and data costs a bit more, but this is a definite possibility since it looks like Cingular has a wider coverage area and also has the EDGE service up here in the Puget Sound area.

On another T-Mobile note, I have over $17 in SMS message fees in my bill this month for some dialed number in the UK at 15 cents each. I NEVER use SMS and can't figure out how this happened. T-Mobile is looking into it, but since it apparently came from my cell number they may not reverse the charges. I wonder if I received some kind of virus or something that sent out the messages and am researching this on my own. I may send the number a message asking them to email me the text of the messages they received from my cell number. Anyone ever see something strange like this or have an idea I should check out?

Considered the SE P910 during my short Treo hunt

After looking for a Treo 650, I actually considered a Sony Ericsson P910 device that can be found online now for $450 after a $100 rebate. It looks like a nice smartphone device and I like the side scroll wheel, but the keyboard looks a bit awkward and there isn't much of a community for it online.

I was close to jumping the gun on this one too, but instead I will take the money that I recently received from selling some software and use it to buy my wife a good birthday gift and help offset some of the costs of my daughter's sports activities. I may also save a bit and buy myself a PSP game when one that looks worth it is released.

I am going to stick with the Nokia 7610, my T3, and Dell X50v for now.

Motorola announces the Q Smartphone

Microsoft and Motorola announced the Motorola Q Smartphone today and this looks like a nice competitor to the Treo 650 and other devices. I like the Windows Mobile Smartphones, but text input has always been the biggest issue for me. The Q solves this with a full QWERTY keyboard. The devices is quite thin and the display is unique with a landscape layout. It won't be available until the first quarter of 2006 so that gives me plenty of time to find something to sell off to make the purchase. No carriers have yet announced they will carry it so we will have to keep an eye on the FCC site.

Cancelled the Treo 650 search

Well I am no longer in the hunt for a Treo 650. I had the device for a couple months and was pretty happy with it, but decided I don't need to spend over $500 for another one. I was close to making a deal with someone on TreoCentral and actually wasted the poor guy's whole day in emailing back and forth and asking for a PayPal refund. The seller was great about working with me even though he could have been working with someone else to sell the device and I am really sorry for jumping the gun on the purchase without thinking straight.

Maybe if T-Mobile ever adds the device I can get it for the low prices people get it through Cingular and other carriers.

On the hunt for an unlocked Treo 650

I have been checking out the TreoCentral forums and see there is an application out called VolumeCare that appears to improve on the low volume issue that was one of my primary gripes. palmOne, now Palm, Inc. again, released a ROM update to fix the NVFS issue so now it looks like the Treo 650 is where it should have been in the first place. As a result, I want my Treo 650 back and thus am on the hunt for an unlocked Treo 650. If any readers know where I could get one at a reasonable price, please let me know. I am really kicking myself now for getting rid of such a nice package (extra battery, sync/charge cable, Piel Frama case, extra stylus pack, and screen protector) and will try to be a bit more patient in the future. I could get one at a good price from T-Mobile if they would ever add it to their selection since I still have my original Nokia 3650 and have never upgraded my phone through them.

What do I carry on a daily basis?

I often wonder what other geeks use as their daily devices and just wanted to let my readers know what is regularly in my pocket nowadays. You will find the Nokia 7610 and Tungsten T3, or Dell X50v, with me most of the time. I went back to the Nokia 7610 after my wife's MPx220 died again and like the Bluetooth drivers, high quality camera, and long battery life of the 7610. I have actually been using the T3 more than the X50v lately primarily due to the excellent Agendus Mail application that allows me to check and download emails from all my accounts with a single tap of an icon. Windows Mobile devices require me to switch to each account first and then tap to download emails. My T3 is also snappier and quite stable where sometimes my X50v locks up for no apparent reason.

I have been thinking about the LifeDrive or Tungsten T5 lately due to the NVFS storage and fact that I have had the T3 fo over a year now and that is a long time for me when it comes to mobile devices. I just participated in a Microsoft Usability study and have added some cash to my PayPal PDA fund as a result of selling the software online. Any readers have an opinion on either device or should I just hold out until something else comes along.

Mirra is the way to go for file backups

I mentioned about the excellent super-fast service I received from Mirra and after following their detailed instructions I was able to restore all my files and then was able to completely reformat the Mirra and start over from scratch. I wanted to do this because I had 4 different computer profiles on the Mirra and some had locked access that I couldn't remember the password for (luckily they didn't have any data I needed in these files). After my reinstall of Windows and drive reformat I wanted a clean Mirra with new backups and just now completed backing up my drives again. Everything is running smooth and I am extremely pleased with the Mirra and excellent customer service they provided. If you are looking for a quality backup solution that syncs hassle-free then I recommend you try a Mirra.

In memory of Diane Laible

Today is a rather sad day here at work as our company Chairman's wife, Diane, passed away this week after a difficult fight with cancer. She was an amazing woman who made everyone feel welcome and better after each visit. I have only been at our company for 4 years and during this time Diane would come in every month for birthdays and bring her famous brownies. While it is sad that she is no longer with us here on Earth, we can rejoice in knowing we will see her again in Heaven as she was a devout Christian woman and they are holding a celebration of her life today while our office closes down to remember her. Everyone who met Diane is a better person just for knowing her and she will be missed by many. Please pray for her husband of 43 years, Duane, and her family as they deal with this loss.

Excellent and poor recent customer service experiences

In my opinion the success of a company largely depends on the quality and responsiveness of their customer service. As I mentioned about a month ago, the Mirra backup server saved my rear. At first I was able to successfully restore vital files, but then I tried restoring about 20 GB at once and the process was interrupted by others logging into the computer, etc. The Mirra then hiccupped and kept trying to go back and finish the task I setup, but would lose the connection to the desktop. I became a bit frustrated and emailed my Mirra contact. A representative called me on the phone that same day and after getting in touch directly they solved my problem by sending me a registry hack that told the Mirra I had a new computer and to start the process over. I am now successfully restoring my files in smaller chunks and then plan on doing a full reformat of the Mirra drive and starting fresh. This is a high quality device backed by caring customer service and I highly recommend you check them out.

I also had a bit of an issue with upgrading to Opera 8 on my Nokia 7610 as I described recently and Opera's technical assistance department was very quick to solve the issue. It turns out T-Mobile has a default proxy that I did not need since I pay for the monthly full unlimited data access and I just did not know where to find the settings so I could remove the proxy address. Opera rocks on mobile devices and they were extremely helpful, even when operating from Norway to the US.

Another recent issue I had was the 1GB Memory Stick Pro Duo I bought for my PSP became corrupted the other day. I had it for about a week and then was putting some files on it when the process was interrupted by a dead PSP battery. The Memory Stick then became unreadable by any computer, camera, PSP, etc. I filled out a request from SanDisk using their cool online system and was then quickly notified how to send my Memory Stick back for free via FedEx 2-day. Their plan is to send out a replacement and make an even swap of the cards. My card just arrived on their doorstop last night so I expect to have a working card back next week. Again, a wonderful customer service experience so far.

Lastly, my daughter's 16 month old iPod mini is now suffering from the faulty headphone jack connector that causes constant VERY LOUD static and makes the device unusable. I had this engraved for her birthday last year and it has been very well taken care of and is in like new condition. There is no reason for this $250 product to fail so easily and I am seriously disappointed in Apple. I sent a request in to them and have not heard anything in a week. I may have to resort to attempting to take apart the iPod mini myself and seeing if I can fix the faulty connector issue or may go with the iPodResQ service. Apple is failing here and is making me think twice before I decide to purchase another Apple product. I was close to buying an iPod Shuffle for my wife, but this is on hold until I see if Apple takes any action.

Success with Opera 8 on Nokia 7610

Opera tech support replied quickly to my issue and directed me to the Advanced Settings area of my Access Point where T-Mobile had their proxy address installed. I simply removed their proxy address and port identifiers and Opera 8 is now running like a champ on the smartphone. I prefer Firefox on the desktop, but Opera is very good on mobile devices with their Small Screen Rendering technology. Now if I could just get a registration code to work on Windows Mobile devices.

Opera 8 for Series 60 released and Palm backup solutions expand

Opera is churning out the version 8 browsers and just released one for Symbian Series 60 devices. I installed it on my Nokia 7610, but now I can no longer surf any website. I keep getting a proxy error timeout and cannot find any settings that might help me with this. Opera 6.2 was working fine before I installed version 8 so I may have to go back to 6.2 if I can't find a solution to this problem.

There was also a new backup solution released for Palm Powered devices today from Resco. I just posted a recent review on Geek.com for TealBackup and will now review Resco Palm Backup and BlueNomad's BackupBuddy to try to give readers of Geek.com an opportunity to see what many of the available solutions are. I actually rarely even use my Tungsten T3, except for review purposes since I am quite happy with the Dell Axim X50v.

MPx220 dies again

My wife's Motorola MPx220 Smartphone has had quality issues that looked to be fixed with the last ROM update. However, the phone is having serious issues again and keeps shutting itself off at random times. I hope these quality issues go away now that Motorola is bringing manufacturing back into their own house. I gave her back the new replacement MPx220 and have gone back to the Nokia 7610 and SPV E200 for myself. I plan on using the Nokia 7610 with my Axim X50v since it is a more functional solution for me right now. I do look forward to seeing what comes out this fall and winter in the Windows Mobile community.

My daughter rocks at soccer!

My middle daughter loves soccer and is very competitive. She tried out for the premier select team in Washington State and made their U-ll development team. The amazing thing is she was only 8 when she tried out and is playing 2 levels above her age. She played in her first tourney this last weekend and their team won all 3 games in the qualifying round and then unfortunately lost the championship game 2-1. She was selected as a player of the game for the championship game, which is awesome considering she played defense and it is usually the offensive players that get all the glory. You can see her team info on the FC Royals 94 Royal page. She has been playing with them now for just over 3 months and I can see a marked improvement in her skills. Her goal is to play at the college and higher level and with her ambition and skill she has a good chance at it too.

My oldest and youngest also play soccer and it is their favorite sport. I am coaching my youngest daughter's team again as we move up to the U-7 bracket. Stay tuned for more proud Daddy news on this blog :)

Craigslist rocks!

Man, I am really loving Craigslist.org. I used it several years ago to find old Apple products and no one at that time really knew much about the site. Now it is very popular and my brother is even using it. I bought my PSP for a good deal after seeing a listing on it and now it looks like I am selling an extra Newton 2100 on the list. It is free and I avoid all the PayPal and eBay fees. Plus it is nice to meet the people face to face since you can actually see the product and pay in cash or check in most cases. I am going to try to sell and buy stuff on Craigslist first from now on.

Google releases toolbar for Firefox users

Although I have been participating on the MSN Search Champs team and have been trying to use Internet Explorer for browsing, I keep going back to Firefox because I like the interface more and am just happier with the browser. I was very pleased to read about the fact that the Google Toolbar has been released for Firefox and just finished installing and customizing it. So far it is working quite well and my browsing experience was just greatly improved.

I do still prefer the MSN Desktop Search client over Google Desktop and Copernic and use that all the time. Yesterday I found several old emails using MSN Search and love the quick preview window. BTW, MSN Desktop Search just had an update released that fixed some minor bug issues and seems to be running quite well.

Pray for those impacted by the London terrorist attacks

Yesterday the world again experienced a terrorist attack that goes to remind us all that there is real evil here on Earth. I emailed my friends and acquaintances over in the UK and was happy to hear they and their families were all fine. My prayers go out to all the people in London and I ask that you too lift them up in prayer. We all know the end of the story when the Lord will prevail, but it is still difficult living through the days until we get there and experiencing the horrors so common in today's society.

Happy 229th America!

We had a wonderful 4th of July out on Lake Tanwax at the Camp Lakeview campground. Our church held their 4th annual campout and I was again in charge of the games. We had both the kids and adults participate in the three legged race, gunny sack race, water balloon toss, crazy olympics and cherry seed spitting contest. We also played a fun game of softball, went swimming at the lake, and had some nice campfire smores (with peanut butter added as well). The weekend was topped off by an awesome fireworks show and time to light off our own fireworks. I was not connected to the internet all weekend and just enjoyed time with my family and friends.

Happy 229th Birthday America! It is great to live in such a free country founded by some great Americans where we can worship freely and live a blessed life.