Phones on the market this summer

My wife and I are looking to replace our cellphones this summer.  My wife's motorazor battery is failing and I cannot stand using Windows Mobile.

Phones that are in our radar this summer:

Apple iPhone 2.0 (Speculated) http://gizmodo.com/378648/iphone-to-support-gps-stereo-bluetooth--nike%252B-battle-hackers
- 620Mhz PPC processor
- iPhone OS
- 320x480 display / Touchscreen
- 32GB Flash storage
- 3.6Mbps HSDPA/GSM 3G cellular modem
- GPS / AGPS
- Wifi B/G
- Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP (stereo audio)
- Nike+ ?
- Orientation Sensor
- $400 (w/ Contract)

HTC Dream (speculated) http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/20/htcs-dream-again-rumored-to-be-first-android-phone/
- 528Mhz ARM5 CPU
- Andriod / Linux OS
- 480x640 display / Capacitative Touchscreen  (based on HTC Diamond)
- 3.6Mbps HSDPA/GSM 3G cellular modem
- GPS / AGPS
- Wifi B/G
- Bluetooth 2.x with A2DP (stereo audio)
- MicroSD
- $599 (w/Contract)?

OpenMoko Freerunner http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Neo_FreeRunner
- 400Mhz ARM4 processor
- Linux 2.6.24 Qtopia
- 480x640 display / resistive Touchscreen
- 128MB RAM / 128MB storage
- GPRS / GSM 2G cellular modem
- GPS / AGPS
- Wifi B/G
- Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP (stereo audio)
- MicroSD
- Orientation Sensor
- USB Host Port (hook up jump drivers, mice, cameras, etc)
- $400 ( No contract)

Nokia N96 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N96
- ? Mhz CPU
- Symbian OS S60
- 240x320 display / resistive Touchscreen
- 128MB RAM / 16GB storage
- HSDPA / GSM 3G cellular modem
- GPS / AGPS
- Wifi B/G
- Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP (stereo audio)
- MicroSD
- 5 MP camera
- Video Conference
- Hardware media playback
- FM Radio
- Orientation Sensor
- $800 (without contract)

Android Linux - Running on the HTC Vogue

Google's Android OS (runs atop Linux kernel) has been ported with some great success to the HTC Vogue phone (Sprint Touch, etc)  Apparently making / receiving calls is working along with all of the other Android apps.

http://it029000.massey.ac.nz/vogue/

North Carolina - Handsfree cellphone law (A HOAX)!

I had started off this blog posting as a rant about North Carolina passing a law which requires the use of handsfree devices on July 1st.   I was going to drone on about how manual-transmission car owners should be required to keep both hands of the wheel as well ;)

As I started researching the law to see who would have passed such a thing, I turn up an article claiming that it was an email HOAX!

http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=293216

If you are in NC, hopefully this will help you out as I was fooled up until this point as well.

_Enacted_ North Carolina DMV laws can be found here: http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByChapter/Chapter_20.html  (Note: 20-140.6 is not there!)

Mobile bluetooth keyboard - For iPhone?

I have been idling considering purchasing the 2nd gen iPhone, however, I dont know if I want to give up my HTC Mogul's sliding keyboard.   This may be the answer if the iPhone can indeed pair with this.  Sadly, a friend of mine tried to pair an Apple Mac bluetooth keyboard to a 1st gen iPhone and it didnt work, so hopefully this is something Apple "fixed".

http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/14968/15992/I-O-Data-mini-keyboard-phones.phtml

Perfect Keyboard? Endurapro USB w/ Trackpoint

I have been a long time fan of the IBM M-Series spring type (click-clack) keyboards and have two in my possession.    I also like using the mouse "nipple" trackpoints as I dont have to take my fingers off of the keyboard.

Well, I recently discovered that  a company called Unicomp makes a spring keyboard along with a built-in trackpoint!  I'd love to use this in the office, however, I am concerned about the noise it may create.   Plus, I'm not quite sure where the mouse buttons are on this.

http://pckeyboards.stores.yahoo.net/en104wh.html

Tried installing Keyless entry in Del Sol

Well, tried installing a keyless entry system in my Del Sol.   I got a really good deal on a DEI Python 460HP at the local CircuitCity and figured it would be a couple of hour job.   I have a lot of experience with electronics so I thought this would be some good fun.  Armed with the factory shop manual, I pulled the car into the garage, and began my project.

Identifying what needed to be wired took some time, however,  with the help of the internet it seemed fairly simple.  Sadly I soon found out this was not true.

I spent several hours trying to get at the Door Lock/Unlock wires Green/White Green/Red.  These were clearly identified as pull-to-ground wires which is the simplest to hook into. What wasn't easy was getting to the wires in the car as the driver door loom comes in relatively close to the top of the dash.  Because the del sol is such a small car, everything was packed in as effeciently as Japanese design teams could, and getting at the wires was virtually an impossiblity without removal of several subsystems (Fuse Panel, SRS plate, Cruise Control, Flasher Circuit, etc)  of the car.

After spending a lot more time working on this than I had planned, I set a goal of getting it done by 12:00pm today or plan a new strategy.  Sadly, 12 hit without being finished, had to "roll back" all of the modifications that was done, and pull the alarm out.   I now have an appointment with "Firedog" aka CircuitCity to install the alarm for $100 ( <--  Definitely worth it! )

Second tank of gas in my 97 Honda Del Sol (35.7 MPG)

As the title says, I just filled up my newly acquired 97 Honda Del Sol at the BP and scored 35.7MPG.  Not too shabby compared to my 01 Honda Odyssey which gets around 19MPG.  At the current price of gas, I will pay for the Del Sol in gas savings in around 2.8 years with just daily commute mileage alone.

A government site to see how your vehicle stacks up. http://www.fueleconomy.gov

I have heard online that having the targa top off of the car hurts fuel economy, however, the nice weather we have had lately is overriding my sense of care now ;)

Wordpress installation on Ubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04

Well as you can tell, I managed to install wordpress on Ubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04.

Fairly easy with the repository version.

# sudo apt-get install wordpress

# sudo cp /usr/share/wordpress/wp-config-sample.php /etc/wordpress/config-www.yoursitename.com.php

Create a MYSQL db and username. ( mysqladmin or other favorite db tool)

Edit the config file and specify the db and username created:

# sudo nano /etc/wordpress/config-www.yoursitename.com.php

** Note:  I had a config issue ( wp-settings.php not found ) and needed to change the sample to specify the absolute path

Change line from:

define('ABSPATH', dirname(__FILE__).'/');

To:

define('ABSPATH', '/usr/share/wordpress/');

Configure apache virtual path ( created a new file: /etc/apache2/conf.d/wordpress ):

Alias /wordpress /usr/share/wordpress

<Directory /usr/share/wordpress>
 Options FollowSymLinks
 AllowOverride Limit Options FileInfo
</Directory>

Whoila. Hit http://www.yoursitename/wordpress and away you go.

The version in the repo is 2.3.3 and there is a newer one available from wordpress.com.  For now, Im content running what I have. ;)

Hello world!

My first official venture into blogging.