Posted on by mwhybark

Phoning it in

Happily, I have been able to get iSync to work with the substitute phone that Eric was kind enough to send to me, the Nokia 6620. Aggravatingly, the phone is officially unsupported by Cingular. This seems to be the source of some peculiar issues and flakiness in connectivity for data. Also, at first blush, there are some issues with the way that Opera renders GMail and other Google Services pages. I’m guessing this is some kinda AJAX javascript deal and that possibly the version of Opera on the phone needs to be updated.

Similarly, I can’t find a decent SMMTP/POP mail client in the apps on the phone. This makes sense as steering the phone user to operate the SMS client on the phone builds revenue for the carrier. The fuckers.

Finally, numeric keypad text entry is clearly proof that Satan is active in the world today.

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Amazing Grace

Yesterday evening as I stood outside at Greg and Stacey’s house, I heard a bagpiper in the far distance playing Atholl Highlanders (warning: iffily-timed midi file autoloads).

Today, I went to a neighbor’s house to peruse an estate sale, and obtained a number of things, including a decent Sony tape deck, a silent 8mm Bell and Howell projector for Spence if he wants it, a 40″ glass-bead projector screen with stand, and most importantly, a set of four of the weirdest 1970s speakers I have ever seen.

Grooved blue cases and bright red grille covers carry the promising JBL insignia. The grooves are designed to allow the cases to stack and interlock – the effect is tremendously Moonbase Alpha, if the bright blues and reds might not work so well in that monochromatic interior.

A bit of research reveals that the speakers are JBL L25 Primas. The foam components in the speakers are pretty trashed, dried out and crumbly to the touch. I have stacked them up in the basement awaiting testing and possible deployment in the basement room we hope to devote primarily to music.

As I loaded these items from the dead man’s house into my car, I heard another piper, this time performing Amazing Grace. I looked up, and at the end of the street, noticed a flotilla of cars parked in the nearby cemetery, presumably gathered in consolation and ceremony as the pipes wailed.

Posted on by mwhybark

Freeeeedommm

Yesterday evening I stapled 25 feet of chickenwire to the outside rails of our deck, to create an outdoor area for our cats. I inadvertently left a basement door open as I put away the ladder and tools, a fact i discovered as I prepared for bed a few hours later. One of our cats, an eleven-year old male who survived the transition from outdoor alpha male to indoor pillow critter after a full year of hiding in a closet, made his escape.

I slept in the living room on the couch last night so I could hear noises by the doors more clearly, and at 2 am, I was awakened by our other cat, Chloe, puking by the door. Suspecting that this was some sort of cat communication, I rose and looked out the door to the deck, where Simon sat patiently.

This afternoon, as I vacuumed the basement, Viv came downstairs to tell me she’d found the porch gate knocked askew and no sign of Simon. I’m considering a leash for the beast.

Posted on by mwhybark

800

1-800-Hanso.org

I called it, and got Hanson Sweepstakes. I wonder if i misdialed.

Posted on by mwhybark

Gruesome

So, speaking generally, the skinny on my smashed Treo is: I’m SOL. Apparently the Treo 700p is due out in mid-May (that’s the 700 with PalmOS on it instead of Windows Mobile), but Palm hasn’t made a formal announcement on this yet. That means that even used Treo 650s are running around $300 on eBay. Forum postings indicate that having a hissy fit on the phone with your provider might sometimes result in a replacement discounted phone.

I’m leaning in the direction of locating a vanilla candy-bar phone that I can use until the 700p is out and then assessing.

The screen is utterly cracked and I can’t get the phone to wake up, as the key guard feature requires a button press. However, incoming calls do activate the phone and while the display is about 50% obscured by a black fog-like area the touchscreen works perfectly well.

I did locate a Treo repairman, but the base rate to fix a dual screen and keyboard failure, including parts and labor, is over $200. My guess is that after the 700w comes out $200 will be the average resale price on eBay for the 650.

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Step

Word to the wise: do not step on your Treo 650 until such time as the Treo 700p has been released.

dammit.

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Burrrrn

The spots on my right hand where I foolishly, and twice, attempted to grasp the handle of a dutch oven containing our ham are mighty discomforted.

Posted on by mwhybark

Echo

It’s weird to be back on the Hill for the first time since the shootings. The Stranger just published their minute by minute account online, and the headlines of both the P-I and the Times banner news of the dead.

Walking by Rainbow Grocery on the way to eat from Group Health, I glanced inside and saw an old acquaintance from Bloomington who worked at Madison Market for many years: he must certainly have known the two young men who also worked there who died in the shooting.

The neighborhood feels like it did after 9/11, and something like it did during WTO, but not excited or argumentative or full of any sort of promise. It’s a shocked and grieving feeling. I have seen half a dozen folks pause and gape at the headlines blaring from the newspaper boxes.