Month: November 2008

I have decided that my next smartphone w…

I have decided that my next smartphone will be the T-Mobile G1. I’m just waiting for my current phone to give up the ghost. On my existing phone, a Windows Mobile device, I keep up with Twitter in one of three ways: text messages, ce Twitsp, and the Twitter for mobile. Being such a Twitter fan, I was obviously concerned about moving to the G1. There may be a Twitter client available already, but will it meet my needs?

With SMS, text messages for Americans (that’s a joke), I am able to keep up with the stream of messages as they come in. The downside to having SMS updates turned on is that Twitter skips some messages and it can be like drinking water from a firehose at times. Even by being selective about whose updates get sent to my phone, it can be a bit too much when I’m working.

Ce Twitsp allows me to dip into the Twitter stream and see what’s going on. I can also read replies or @s that didn’t make it to my phone. Furthermore, ce Twitsp allows me to post photos to my Twitter stream with a minimum of hassle.

Finally, my failsafe access Twitter is the mobile website. You can’t everything you need to do on the mobile site. You can post and read replies. There is no option for direct messages. You can see what is going on, but are limited in what you can do.

Naturally, I would like to do more or less everything I am able to do via Twitter on my G1 without having to rely on the mobile site. I would like to have an application that I can leave running and check every once in a while. I haven’t found a Twitter client, per se, for the G1. I found something much better. I found an SSH client for the G1. It is called connectbot. Connectbot allows you to SSH into a shell account in which you have presumably already installed TTYtter. I mentioned this workaround once for the T-Mobile Sidekick, which has a downloadable terminal.

I’m sure that there may be much fancier interfaces for Twitter on the G1 on the way. However, I prefer to keep up with Twitter through a terminal. For now, I don’t know if this will be a solid solution. Being on a mobile phone, I don’t know if the terminal’s constant updating, though low-bandwidth, will eat up my battery. I also don’t know how reliable the terminal connection will be. On the Sidekick, you can expect to be booted off frequently because T-Mobile uses proxies for that phone. I don’t think that the G1 will be proxied. Presumably, it’s open to the web, right? When I do switch to the G1, you can expect that I’ll be testing and retesting all my options.

UPDATE
It’s not going to work. The terminal clients on the G1 won’t allow me to telnet or ssh over to my shell accounts. Fortunately, there are twitter apps you can install. Twidroid seems to do the trick for me.

A New Look at Basecamp

I have recently started using Basecamp again to organize projects. My first exposure to Basecamp was as a guest on Jennifer Navarrete‘s account for organizing PodCamp San Antonio. I was able to navigate it well enough; but I could never wrap my mind around what the features were meant to do. While I could follow along with the To-Do lists and milestones, I could not grasp how it all fit together. After Podcamp San Antonio, I stopped using Basecamp. I had no large projects that required team collaboration, so I cast it aside.

Earlier this year, I started looking at CRM solutions. I found that Highrise does an excellent job for my purposes. I have been able to keep track of conversations and interactions with others. Still, I found it missing project collaboration features. I tried Backpack for a little while. After using it a couple weeks, I found it wasn’t made for large team projects.

One thing that I like about these 37 Signals products is allow you to use your OpenID account to tie Basecamp, Highrise, and Backpack together. There is no sharing across platforms; but you do have links across the top of the page that let you quickly switch from one account to the other without having to log in again. So, I tied my Basecamp account in, not because I was using it, just because I could. Not long after that, I started looking at some of the case studies and the tour.

Aha! Moment

It wasn’t until I started looking at what all the features in Basecamp were meant to do and how other people use it that things clicked for me. It occurred to me that this is exactly what I was looking for to help with a big project that I am trying to put behind me. I tried to shoehorn project management into Highrise, but it just wasn’t working out.

Why Basecamp Works For Large Projects

Basecamp’s strength comes from the ability to add outside companies and users to your projects. There is no limit to how many user accounts or companies you add. You are simply limited in the number of projects you can have open at once. This was my limiting factor using Highrise. My current project involves around 100 people across 20 organizations or so. To add so many contacts to Highrise, I’d have to subscribe to the Max plan at $149/month. Not going to happen on my budget. I tried sending out emails to everybody to keep them informed. This works pretty well for broadcasting information, but it’s not the same as collaboration. For one person to deal with the mass of contacts and minutiae of 100 people AND actually do work, it can be a bit much.

I only wish I had discovered Basecamp’s strengths earlier. I would have subscribed immediately and created accounts for all the companies and the people involved in the project. This way, they could keep up with the latest on the project and even contribute wherever possible. Hindsight being 20/20, I could have saved myself a lot of miscommunication and phone minutes had I looked at Basecamp earlier. Now that I have, I intend to use it for the remainder of this project, which though almost over, is still formidable in the amount of information management it demands.

Happy Thanksgiving



2006 Thanksgiving – 5.jpg

Originally uploaded by xybermatthew.

This is the season to consume mass quantities. It’s eating season and I have a license to chew. As I chow down today, I’ll be thinking about all the good things that have come this year.

There are so many things for which one can be grateful. Your can be thankful for your health; if you have poor health be thankful it doesn’t get worse. You can be thankful for your family; or if they’re all crazy, you can be thankful they are far away. You can be thankful for your friends. Give thanks for your talents. Be thankful for your eyesight and your hearing. Most of all, during this season, be thankful for your sense of smell and taste. Yummy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Rio Grande Valley Tweetup

Meeting at Padre Island Brewing Co.
Meeting at Padre Island Brewing Co.
You are invited to join me at Padre Island Brewing Company this Saturday at 6 PM for the Rio Grande Valley’s first Tweetup. If you are in South Texas and want to meet some interesting folks, you are welcome to stop by. It is not necessary to RSVP; but if you feel strange just showing up, you can RSVP at Upcoming.org or at RGV New Media. The best thing to do is to follow me at Twitter.

I look forward to meeting many of the interesting people who have replied already. South Texas seems to be developing a growing Twitter community. This is awesome.

I May Give the T-Mobile G1 a Try

My quest to find a replacement for my T-Mobile Dash has taken an unexpected turn; I have decided that the T-Mobile G1 may be the one I choose. I was previously looking at Blackberry models with preference over the Windows Mobile devices. After looking at the G1 in person and playing with it a little, I was not impressed. The design is just, bleh. It just doesn’t scream “sexy”; it’s more like it cries out “prototype”. HTC put a lot more style in my Dash than in the G1. Despite that, let me tell you why the G1 made a comeback and will be my next handset.

There is nothing wrong with the Blackberry. All the models are awesome. Everybody who has used one swears on their reliability and sheer awesomeness. Many of my friends who use mobile social media apps have found them for their Blackberry phone. Obviously, the push email and document viewing capability are great for business use. On top of that, some of the Blackberry models can use WiFi connections for phone service, thereby saving my mobile minutes. The Blackberry cameras also have more than the meager 1.2 megapixel cameras on the Windows Mobile phones. Blackberry had everything going for it until it came down to 3G.

In our market, 3G is still not available; but, it will be here next Spring. I do not want to have to upgrade my phone for another 2 years if possible. Therefore, 3G, though not yet available, is an important feature for a handset to have. None of the Blackberry models have it. So, I had to start over from scratch. Of the devices that are 3G capable, most of them are simple handsets, not smartphone types. Only the G1 and the new Samsung Behold interested me. After playing with both, I didn’t find either particularly captivating. The touch-screen thing is cool; but I want my phone to do something besides being cool.

I walked out of the store disappointed. Still, I decided to do some research on the G1, which should be more extensible, being made on an open platform. I figure some apps should be available in time. What has really sold me on the G1 are the 3G connection, the camera, and the GPS. When the 3G kicks in down here, I’ll enjoy the speed, no doubt. What sold me on the camera is that it has auto-focus. That is an awesome feature. It will allow me to use Qipit. It will also improve my experience with Evernote, which can read text in a picture when clear. I recently purchased a GPS for work and have loved the ability to get around without getting lost. Having GPS on my phone can only increase the fun. Some of the apps that use the GPS and camera actually helped a little.

When it comes to software, cloud computing will probably make up for any lack of business apps. The web browser lets you access full web pages. The integration with Google services can also help mitigate some of the lack of business focus. I think the G1 does support push email. This will be handy.

In the end, it’s coming down to hardware features that are steering me towards the G1. It’s shocking that I’m coming back to a device that I had discounted. Still, I’m not going to buy one right away. My current phone still works and does a decent job. So, I’ll hang in there a while longer before upgrading. Maybe another cool phone will come out; maybe not. The G1 will be in my sights when I do make the decision to upgrade.

Still Back and Forth Between Blackberry and Windows Mobile

I am having a tough time deciding what kind of phone to get to replace my existing phone. My phone is 2 years old now. It is a T-Mobile Dash, aka HTC Excalibur. It’s a great little phone running Windows Mobile 6. I souped it up with a 2400 mAh battery, which gives it a really long life. Unfortunately, it’s old and has limits in how many of today’s mobile apps it can run at once on its limited memory. I realize that it’s getting close to the time I need to upgrade it. I’m having trouble choosing the proper replacement.

I’m alright with running Windows Mobile. There are some “features” which I am willing to live with because it does what I want it to do. The occasional reboot fixes most problems. At its core, my Windows Mobile phone lets me browse the web, twitter, and keep up with my email. I also enjoy sharing my phone’s Internet connection with my computer. It effectively acts as my computer when I’m away from my computer. It does these things adequately for my needs. Getting another Windows Mobile phone would simply be a continuation of my existing experience, except in a new form with better performance.

I have asked friends for suggestions on what kind of phone to get. Several have mentioned that I ought to try the Blackberry. I understand that Blackberry phones are becoming quite the social media device. It would obviously take care of web browsing, email, and twitter with ease. I think Blackberry also has Internet connection sharing. There are apps available for download that would increase my enjoyment of my smartphone. I have gone down to the T-Mobile store and see a good variety of Blackberry phones, and only 3 Windows Mobile versions. So, as far as selection, my mobile service provider has more Blackberry varieties.

Thus far, I have gone back and forth on the decision of which type of smart mobile phone to buy. I think the problem is that I do not see any clear advantage of one over the other. The decision may come down to hardware features like camera quality, memory, wifi, bluetooth, and maybe even VOIP capability. Thus far, my selection is narrowed by the number of phones that support T-Mobile’s upcoming 3G network upgrade.

The release of the T-Mobile G1, otherwise known as the Google Phone, has also contributed to my indecision. If it integrates with my Google account well, then it may very well be worthwhile. Best of all, the G1 is 3G ready. On the other hand, it’s a first generation release with likely bugs. Then there’s the issue of apps written for the G1. So, then I go back to either Windows Mobile or Blackberry. I think I’m going to have to wait.

Maybe in the end I’ll get a cheap-o phone and an iPod Touch.

Wal-Mart Offers Investing Services to Customers

I don’t know where I was that I missed the announcement that Wal-Mart would enter the investment services market. Wal-Mart has long had an interest in entering the financial services market. Despite all the recent bad news about how Wall Street has hosed the country, financial services are still a very profitable sector. Wal-Mart has had some road blocks in becoming a bank. Despite this, they have made some inroads into financial services.

Wal-Mart has teamed up with Sharebuilder to offer DRIP-style investing to consumers. Although Sharebuilder also offers mutual funds and non-dividend paying stocks, they provide their investors with fractional shares, which major brokerages do not, except for retirement accounts. With Sharebuilder, if you have $25 to invest, they’ll take that and buy you $25 dollars worth of stock, mutual fund, or ETF, plus their fee. It does not matter if it is only a half of a stock, a quarter, or even a tenth. Sharebuilder democratizes Wall Street so that everybody can participate in the market. Sharebuilder is a pay-as-you-go brokerage service without a minimum balance. The way that Wal-Mart tied the investment service to another service is pure genius.

The first move into financial services came when Wal-Mart teamed up with Green Dot Corporation to offer pre-paid debit card services. Green Dot is a “provider of retail based financial services for America’s underserved community”. There is a large population of people who are “unbankable”. The underserved Americans generally have a bounced check or bad credit; which makes them unappealing to banks when they apply for a checking or savings account. However, Wal-Mart has a much broader customer base than the “unbankable”.

In recent months, I made the switch to the Wal-Mart Money Card. I realized one day that Wal-Mart has made their money by serving underserved areas, mostly rural. Therefore, by using Wal-Mart as my bank, I could be assured that there is a branch almost anywhere in the country I go. In my neck of the woods, there are at least 6 Wal-Marts within 20 miles. Which bank do you know that goes to small towns all over the nation? Sure, they charge a fee for putting money on your money card; but you can’t overdraft on a pre-paid card. Therefore, there are no NSF fees. So long as you deposit a minimum of $1,000/month, your service is free. It just made sense to shop and bank at the same place.

The other day while depositing money in my Wal-Mart Money Card, I noticed a small line that mentioned investments. I would not have known about this otherwise. It was through curiosity that I learned how all of this ties together. After investigating the investing discovery, I signed up. After all, I’m a Wal-Mart customer. The genius part on behalf of Wal-Mart is that they allow you to use your Wal-Mart Money Card to fund your Sharebuilder account. This really opens up Wall Street to everybody.

I know that there are a bunch of Wal-Mart bashers out there. You have to give Wal-Mart credit. They have low prices. They offer “banking” to everybody. They offer investing to everybody. They bring services to people who traditional banks and brokerages would not even touch. Wal-Mart does more for the poor than government and Wall Street could ever do. AND they make money. I can only speculate that Wal-Mart may soon start offering mortgages. Watch out Wall Street; Wal-Mart is going to teach you how to do things right.

Join Me for National Podcast Post Month

Join me as I try to do 30 podcasts in 30 days for National Podcast Post Month, also known as NaPodPoMo. NaPodPoMo was started by Jennifer Navarrete and has dozens of members who are participating this year. Last year’s NaPodPoMo was a lot of fun.

Besides the personal challenge in coming up with stuff to talk about for 30 days, what makes NaPodPoMo fun is that you get to hear other people who have something to contribute. It’s a great way to find podcasts that you didn’t know about.

Be sure to visit the site and sign up for the challenge. If you don’t want to podcast this year, then at least listen to some of the podcasts. Make some friends.

You can listen to my first post of the month on Utterli.