I have had an on again off again relationship with my Palm Pre.  Lately it’s on again.  It’s Monday and that feeling is subject to change at any moment.

One of my favorite features of the Palm Pre is the touchstone charger.

It’s very nice to be able to lay your phone on the charger and it start charging.  I know that sounds like a lazy man talking – too lazy to plug in a cable.  Stay with me.  I really enjoy having one at the office.  When the phone is on the charger – the time display stays lit up – and incoming messages are shown.  And to answer a call I just lift the phone off of the charger.  If you are on a call you can sit the phone on the charger and the call transfers to speaker phone mode.  The phone can also be placed in portrait or landscape mode so that you can watch videos while the phone is charging.  The angle of the touchstone seems to be perfect for this.

I have not looked at the prices of the touchstones for a while.  I got one for Christmas and then picked up another one with a gift card.  It won’t be long until this technology catches on and we start seeing it on other smart phones.

Throwing this one out there – in case you are ever looking for a free piece of software to burn CDs, DVDs, ISOs or what ever.  The software is CDBurnerXP (the link goes to CNet).  There maybe others out there but this one has saved my bacon on more than one occasion.

Here is the description:

Though this multifaceted burning tool won’t win any beauty awards, it has almost everything Windows users need to create CDs and DVDs. One of the most glaring needs for Windows XP users is a DVD burner, and CDBurnerXP Pro fits the bill well. Despite a slightly confusing interface, this freeware tool should not disappoint users who take the time to familiarize themselves with its functionality.

The core of the program’s feature set consists of three main tasks, which are prompted via a wizard upon start-up: writing data CDs and DVDs, creating CDs for audio playback, and ripping music from CDs or editing ID3 tags. Canceling the wizard results in a rather blank blue screen with only a few selections in the toolbar. In order to work on a new project, you’ll need to select one of the options, which can be brought back via the “New document” icon in the upper left. Unfortunately, you can’t even open an existing project without selecting one of the wizard options first. The program supports both burnproof and on-the-fly disc writing, as well as bootable ISO files, but it cannot burn double-layer DVDs, a feature promised for version 3.5, which is currently in alpha development. While it may take users some time to learn how to use it effectively, CDBurnerXP Pro is a competent tool and a great value.

And a note from the publisher:

CDBurnerXP is an application to burn optical disks including cd, DVD, H-DVD, Blu-Ray Disaks. It can create ISO and multilanguage interface.

It is able to burn audio-CDs with or without gaps between tracks. Data verification can be done after burning process. The software also can be used as bin/nrg to ISO converter and can used for simple cover printing.

One of the tools I use the most on a day to day basis has to be Dropbox.  If you have not used Dropbox before and you use multiple computers – you should give it a shot.  It’s like a network drive – but you can get at it from just about any where.  No matter what computer I am on – work, home, laptop, or netbook – I always have that one folder (Dropbox) that is available to me.  I use it mostly to keep work files on that I would need to access from a different location.  I also keep website backups on it as well as a few pictures/PDF files   you get the idea.

What do you use to make files available across multiple computers?

Sorry – no Flash game this week, but something tons more interesting.

Check out this article with amazing pictures.

This is a storm drainage system built for water issues surrounding Tokyo.  But it looks like something straight out of a sci-fi movie.

From the Sprint Fourms, posted by admin of the forum:

On 2/26, Friday evening, Pre and Pixi device users will receive an Over the Air (OTA) notification to download the new 1.4 webOS software release.

This release includes both fixes and feature updates (listed below).

Fixes:

• Time Zone bug fixed
• Network time sync bug fixed to reflect accurate Network time
• Bluetooth car-kit transition to device corrected
• No EV icon bug fixed (random)
• Random browser formatting bugs fixed
• Fixed bug that incorrectly displayed Sprint when actually was Digital Roaming
• Missing Contact issue specifically with swap down to 1.2.9.1 or less

Feature Updates:

• Phonebook Transfer (import & export)
• Adds Video Capture capability & edit
• Calendar Enhancements
• Messaging Enhancements
• Improved Performance (Phone & CAL)
• Email Enhancements
• Notification Enhancements
• Adds Adobe Flash 10.0 (Pre Only)
• • NOTE: The 1.4 software adds the ability to use the Flash 10.0 Adobe plug-in which will be available shortly from the Palm Appl Catalogue.

UPDATE

Looks like for some reason Sprint pulled that off of their forum.  Over at PreCentral there are lots of reports of people already getting the upgrades.

WebOS 1.4 should be dropping any time now according to the rumors.  Once out we should see video capture and Flash support.  They are also suppose to fix an issue with BT car kits and the transfer to one and back off from one.  My Jabra car kit does not go well from the phone playing music to  the  BT device taking over playing the music.

Check out this article over on Wired.

It seems the Google search algorithm is about to get an overhaul.

According to the article there are about 550 search improvements the panel will be looking at.  Could it be they fear the Bing monster up in Washington?  I doubt it.   While Bing is a decent search engine – it’s no Google Search.  Some time ago – I set all my default  search engines to Bing for a week to give it a shot.  It didn’t go over well.  I believe it is a matter of being used to wording in a search engine.  I know, after years of use, what I need to type in Google to see the results I am looking for.  The article is well worth the read if you are at all intrigued by the Google giant.

Every time engineers want to test a tweak, they run the new algorithm on a tiny percentage of random users, letting the rest of the site’s searchers serve as a massive control group. There are so many changes to measure that Google has discarded the traditional scientific nostrum that only one experiment should be conducted at a time. “On most Google queries, you’re actually in multiple control or experimental groups simultaneously,” says search quality engineer Patrick Riley. Then he corrects himself. “Essentially,” he says, “all the queries are involved in some test.” In other words, just about every time you search on Google, you’re a lab rat.

This ability to be agile – is what keeps Google on the top.  They are the behemoth in the search category – but they still have the swagger to back it.

We’ve had Vonage now for about 3 years.  It’s been reliable – very reliable.   I can remember very few times when we went without phone service due to issues on their end.  I am to the point now though – that Vonage is getting too expensive.

VoIP used to be a ‘cheaper’ alternative to the bells.  I am not so sure that Vonage now is really that much cheaper.  At this point in the game – I wonder if I even need VOiP?  At the same time I am looking at some alternative providers mostly ooma.   Ooma has a lot going for it – and a few things against it as well.  The biggest issue is the upfront fees.  I am not sure I am willing to commit that much money to a smaller vendor in the VOiP arena.

How about you?  Do you use VOiP at home?  And if so – who do you use?

Check out this video shot from a helicopter – not pretty when helicopter and buzzard meet.  Stay with it to the end – some how the buzzard makes it out of the helicopter and makes a run for it.

When it comes to the smart phone market – the iPhone is king.  If you are a regular reader of this blog you know that I went with the Palm Pre a while back.  It’s not been without issues though.  I went with the Pre – because I’ve always been a Palm fan and I wanted to give the Sprint network a try.  I had been with AT&T for years.  I was ready for a change – I was ready to leave AT&T and Blackberry behind and try something new.

There are days I wish I would have went with the iPhone though.  The apps available boggle my mind.  There are several sites I use constantly that have apps on the iPhone but not the Pre.  Remember the Milk is one big one.  I also use Logos for bible study – they have a great iPhone app available.  These are things that would be nice to have – not a necessity by any means.  I am anxious to see what other carriers get the iPhone.

As far as Sprint – they have been a great carrier.  The service is good.  Customer service is good too.

What phone did you go with?    Why did you pick it?