InfoTart

I updated my iPod Touch to the version 2.0 firmware (but hated paying Apple $10 for the priviledge). The good thing about updating, though, is that now I can install third party applications without having to jailbreak the device.

The first app I installed was Koi Pond. It’s just $0.99! I can see why it’s one of the most popular apps on the iPhone. It’s beautiful and has a cool interface. Very well implemented. I love how you shake the device to feed the fish! The only annoying thing: The Blimp Pilots (makers of Koi Pond) have optimized their web site for iPhone/iPod Touch users, which means that it kind of looks like crap when you access it using your PC.

In my free time, I’m going to have to download and try out more apps…

Ran across this web site today. I am totally lusting after a Chairman Meow tshirt!

www.cafepress.com/dogs_of_war/3998914

Over at the Fake Steve Jobs blog (aka, “The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs”), Fake Steve has gone “on vacation” for awhile leaving Fake Jerry Yang (CEO of Yahoo) to take his place.

I miss Fake Steve. He was funny.

But fortunately Fake Jerry is funny & insightful, too. And his writing is eerily familiar…

Hmmmm…

Personally, I think that Fake Jerry is FAKE and that Fake Steve is behind the whole thing. I wouldn’t put it past him. That fakester. Faker McFakester.

Someone in my extended network on LinkedIn just posed this question, so I took a few minutes to write a response. I wrote a much longer article on this blog not too long ago on this topic:

Setting Up a New Unlocked Smartphone: www.infotart.com/blog/2008/01/05/setting-up-a-new-unlocked-phone/

So here’s my response to the LinkedIn question which I wrote this afternoon:

For me, it also depends on the phone’s operating system. I own several smartphones (either Symbian S60 or UIQ). As a mobile UI designer, I’ve also enjoyed spending time with Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, and Palm devices.

For me, personally, once I get a new phone, I always put all of my contacts on the phone. I use a free service from Zyb (www.zyb.com, now owned by Vodaphone) to sync my contacts to my devices. The device must have SyncML support, which includes most smartphones.

I use Google Calendar to manage my social calendar and I don’t need all of those events on my device’s calendar. The reason is that I set up Google Calendar to send me an SMS by default for all events about 15 min. before starting. (That setting is editable for each individual event.) But if I did want my calendar on my phone, I would use GooSync (www.goosync.com). GooSync also offers to sync your Google contacts.

One of the first things I do with a new phone is put my personal email on the device. I have Gmail, but don’t like the Java-based Gmail application. Instead, most smartphones support linking POP/IMAP accounts like Gmail into the phone’s native email app. That’s what I use with S60 and UIQ phones, and it works great!

Next, I put Google Maps on my phone. The features for Google Maps varies by operating system. It’s very rich on S60 devices, including getting location data from an external GPS receiver via Bluetooth (which is what I have in my car) or via cell tower. Hopefully those features are coming to UIQ soon, as I really missed it on my Sony Ericsson W960 Walkman phone. Google Maps has a few annoying quirks, but it’s free and works great overall.

I really like Fring (www.fring.com) on my WiFi-enabled S60 phone. I like being able to make calls over WiFi, as well as chat with friends on Skype and some other services.

Another good WiFi VOIP app is the Gizmo Project (www.gizmoproject.com), which has excellent integration with S60 phones as a native “Internet Call” service. The Gizmo Project is like Skype’s less famous (and not quite as pretty) cousin, but the VOIP calling features work great.

I love the concept of JoikuSpot Light (www.joiku.com) which turns your S60 phone into a wireless Internet WiFi hotspot! Since I also carry an iPod Touch around, I can enjoy my email and web browsing on a bigger screen on the iPod Touch. The beta version worked only so-so with my Nokia E65, so I’m hoping that the recently released full version will be working better.

Another Internet access utility that I’ve heard lots of great thing about is Psiloc Connect (http://connect.psiloc.com). This handy little utility helps ensure that your WiFi enabled phone connects to WiFi points when they’re available rather than eating up data on your cellular plan. I haven’t tried it yet, but it’s very high on my “next to try” list.

Neil Gaiman spoke at MIT last night, the first in a new Julius Schwartz lecture series from the MIT Comparative Media Studies program. My friend, JP, is an avid reader of quite a number of different genres, including comics and fantasy, and was lucky enough to score tickets. The lecture sold out way in advance and had somewhere around 1300 attendees!

Mr. Gaiman was a brilliant speaker. It was my first time seeing him speak, and one is never sure whether good authors are also going to be good speakers, but Mr. Gaiman was fantastic. He was funny, charming, witty, and incredibly comfortable in front of such a large audience. He spoke a little about a few of his books, but the main part of his lecture was on the connection between hardcore pornography and musicals, which was then extended to define genre fiction in general, including westerns and fantasy.

Read more about Mr. Gaiman’s MIT visit in his own words at his blog:  http://journal.neilgaiman.com

Went to see Speed Racer last night — and loved it!

I know it’s gotten mediocre reviews in the press, but I thought it was fantastic. The visuals were stunning. The whole movie was like a Japanese manga (comic book) come to life. The Wachowski brothers did a fantastic job of directing the film and giving it a true manga/anime visual style, with a bit of fun camp. And Speed’s kid brother, Spritle, stole every scene.

Anyone looking for an Oscar-winning dramatic performance along the lines of No Country For Old Men or There Will Be Blood will be disappointed. But c’mon. Let’s be honest here. Is that what you’d expect of Speed Racer? No! You’ll come for the adrenalin-soaked, eye-popping visuals, great racing, and a fun story line.

Last night, some friends & I went to see Iron Man. Thankfully, it wasn’t just good, it was brilliant! Well acted, good writing, nice balance of serious and fun.

In my humble opinion, it was the best of any of the movies based on Marvel superheroes. Better even than Spider-Man.

So definitely go check it out. And don’t forget to stay until after the final credits have rolled for a bonus scene…

I recently started listening to Bass Drive through iTunes at work. I love drum ‘n bass in general, but this online radio station’s DJs are especially good!

The music is probably a little too fast for most people, but honestly, listening to this genre of music is the only way I can concentrate and get work done in office cubeland. Counter-intuitive, perhaps, but it totally works for me.

One of the DJs today was playing a slick track from a DJ named R0b0t Redf0rd. The DJ mentioned that RR has a page on MySpace and is making 3 of his tracks available for direct download. Thanks, RR!

• BassDrive.com
• R0b0t Redf0rd’s MySpace Page

Damn! Some of these games are fun and addictive! How am I going to get any work done now? At least they’re mostly free…

www.miniclip.com

Avenue Q has finally come to Boston, and what a great production it is!

Last night, my boyfriend, Bruce, and I caught the Boston show at the Colonial Theatre. He was blown away by it. I thought the Broadway product was still slightly better (and the stage was larger), but nonetheless, the Boston show was brilliant. We both laughed all the way through. And exchanged plenty of glances each time the Boston Blue Hair and suburbanite sets broke out in laughter and/or applause for such risque numbers like “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist” and “The Internet Is For Porn.” Needless to say, the cast did a fantastic job and earned that standing ovation. Plus the show is just brilliant to start with!

I was fortunate enough to have caught it last month on Broadway in New York City. It was truly an amazing performance. (And if they’re going to charge an arm & a leg for admission, it had better be!) This show is now one of my favorite musicals of all time.

I bought the CD last night on the way out. I’d have bought the DVD, too — except that they don’t have a DVD of the show yet! Now that Avenue Q has just started its national tour, I bet they’re holding off on a DVD until afterwards.

But the good news is — at least they have lots of freebies on their web site, including a screensaver, desktop wallpaper, and banners for your web site.

www.avenueq.com/downloads.html

And since I bought the CD, I ripped it with iTunes already. And will be putting the entire album on my Walkman phone in a few minutes. I’m still trying to decide which track I should use for the ringtone…