WebWriting.com

On Red Bull, Fountains and Manners

Omer — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 11:32:03 +0000

I’ve noticed a few things in Switzerland this past week that I wasn’t previously aware of. First is that the Swiss drink inordinate amounts of Red Bull. I can’t claim to be a world traveler but at least around the states its seems the preferred non-alcoholic beverage is by and large coke or diet coke. In Switzerland it’s Red Bull.

This is somewhat ironic given the proliferation of public drinking fountains. Usually in Europe one might think of fountains as purely ornate or perhaps useful on a hot summer day to wash ones face. In Switzerland not only are fountains ubiquitous, the free flowing water is meant for drinking. Of course you can bath in them too if they’re big enough.

My third (unrelated) observation is that the Swiss are generally very courteous. They stop for pedestrians in cross walks, share the road with bikers and will help with strollers getting on and off public transportation. Perhaps this is why it sticks out when someone doesn’t make room for a stroller – especially when we’re trying to fit three at the end of a train car and avoid causing traffic jams for the rest of the passengers. It’s happened three times so far – almost enough for me to learn the Swiss German phrase for “excuse me, you are sitting in the stroller parking area.”

Long time no blog

Omer — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 18:49:08 +0000

I haven’t blogged in forever - in part because work has been insanely busy and in part because I can tweet or facebook most things that that are interesting on any given day. Now I’m on vacation and find myself with plenty of time to put pen to paper (or in my case stylus to touch screen). For those who pay close attention this qualifies as a real vacation because I have yet to open my work laptop. Of course I’m not computer-less. I’ve been using my new viliv x70 extensively. After all it takes a good few weeks to really break in a new gadget.

We’re visiting friends in Switzerland and despite the two toddlers whose schedules rarely align and an adorable two month old who is either sleeping or eating it’s been a rather relaxing trip. We’ve been to Winterthur, where our friends live, downtown Zurich to eat some ostrich and today to Konstanz just over the German border. Without exception the weather has been phenomenal and the Swiss are just as I remember them (meticulous, courteous, and efficient). The food is better no doubt in part thanks to our culinarily inclined hosts.

We’ve yet to plan the week ahead. On the agenda is likely a return to Winterthur downtown for some window shopping, a visit with family in Zurich and of course a stop at Migros for some bacon flavored puffed crisps.

With my free time this week I hope to get more blogging in. Stay tuned for tails of beautiful countryside and yodeling galore.

Waiting for the T

Omer — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:00:04 +0000

I wonder if Dave and Melba are still together.

SPB Mobile Shell 3.0 first impression

Omer — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:30:02 +0000

I’m a sucker for productivity enhancement tools and nowhere more than on my phone. I’m seduced by the promises of better organized information and faster access to information processing tools. The truth is that, like most people, I spend most of my time working with just three tools - calendar, e-mail and a web browser. Sure I occasionally twitter and I like to keep up with Facebook. I’ve even been known to update my Netflix queue on the go. Yet the triumvirate of productivity remains when, who and what (that’s calendar, e-mail and web for those keeping track). So any real productively enhancement tools - like a better, slicker home screen for my phone - needs to help manage these three as efficiently as possible. While SPB Mobile Shell is pretty and 3.0 is a welcome upgrade, it’s not that great for what I need.
As a reference point I should probably start by explaining my current phone home screen. I do use SPB Weather, which is a very nice tool and it takes up the top line on my home screen along with the clock. The rest of the screen displays my next twelve meetings (usually two days worth) thanks to Pocket Informant (a nice improvement over the built in WinMo calendaring). I have two customizable hard keys - one that displays a touch commander window with a 4×6 set of program icons (including several web browsers) while the other hard key opens my e-mail. The soft keys immediately above the hard keys open calendaring and contacts. I’m considering swapping the contacts for my default browser (Iris Browser from Torch Mobile) since my web to phone ration is probably 10:1. I also have the usual notification icons on the top bar showing me new e-mails or missed calls.
How does SPB Mobile Shell 3.0 stack up against this bar? All the information is displayed and the tools I use are just as accessible. They’re also much prettier (can’t underscore this enough - SPB is very nicely designed). What it lacks though is information density. There’s a very big clock and a today’s weather icon for today’s weather. It would be great to swap these (small clock, more weather). The notification icons, while cool, are not that important that I need them front and center or that large. The calendar shows me the next four appointments but that’s not enough to see my day at a glance (I can click for more…but I need to click). I have also tried customizing the screen to better fit what I would like to see but the calendar becomes even shorter (this might just be a bug) and the other icons are still unnecessarily large.
Would I recommend SPB Mobile Shell? I think it’s definitely worth a trial. If you find it helpful it’s also worth the $30. For me, SPB Mobile Shell is still a few tweaks short of replacing my tried and true WinMo home screen. Denser information and customization so I can see more at a glance.

Best (inappropriate) Man Line

Omer — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 21:55:02 +0000

(place names have been changed for an American audience)
There seems to be some confusion about the honeymoon. They were supposed to go to Cancun but apparently the groom thinks they’re going to Maine. At least that’s what I think he meant when he said he was going to Bangore for three weeks.

Windows 7 Devices

Omer — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 22:00:04 +0000

Devices that work on Windows 7: Logitech QuickCam Pro Visioneer 4400 Flatbed Scanner Griffin PowerMate Fingerworks TouchStream Keyboard USB External Drive USB 2.0 Hub USB 2.0 PCI Card
Devices that do not work on Windows 7: SnapScan 300 Sheet Fed Scanner Authentec Fingerprint Reader Old Teac USB Floppy

Google AppEngine Error

Omer — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 20:30:08 +0000

BadFilterError: invalid filter: Only one property per query may have inequality filters (=, )…sigh…

Palm Pre

Omer — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:10:09 +0000

The new Palm Pre looks like a fantastic device. There’s plenty of video on the usual gadget blogs. What has me scratching my head is…is there anyone left who would buy such a phone that hasn’t recently gotten an iPhone, Android, or something HTC WinMo? Also the screen resolution is decided last gen for smart phones which is a bit disappointing.

The rare amusing Garfield

site admin — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 02:55:02 +0000

Evernote.enex

Update - forgot that e-mail from outlook (Evernote uses the default e-mail client) posts lots of html garbage and there are some bugs in the postie plugin for this version of wordpress.

Disabled Train

Omer — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 02:05:03 +0000

If you ride the T you are familiar with the mysterious disabled train that haunts the punctual among us. I have never been lucky enough to happen on one. Tonight’s experience suggests that more often than the MBTA would like to admint, a poorly trained operator barrels into the station a bit too fast, is slow on the breaks and overshoots the exit.
If you ever find yourself in a position where someone asks if the subway car you are building needs to be able to reverse, please say “yes.” Consider the occasion that some operator misses the exit and needs to back up a few feet. Suggesting that such incidents are so rare that one could easily deploy a reverse pushing vehicle to facilitate is a poor choice.