Excerpt of my Email to Palm is at the bottom.
I read engadget randomly, as I do most other good sources of consciencious bloggers, technorati, wil wheaton, et al. The open letter to Palm struck a chord with my business heart. I've been a retail manager for decades, all to fund my 30+ years of college education, all of which resulted in my being employed by a major software company. Life is good. Anyway, back to the point, I remember how hard Palm kicked 'Burro' back in the day. Every communication company reacted, in fear, to the Palm threat. Suddenly, companies like HP and TI were coming out with handheld devices, most of which totally sucked dirt. I still have a Casio and an HP craptastic, whose batteries [almost impossible to find] are no longer holding a charge. You can't just put AAA cells in these things, unfortunately.
That brings me to my purpose for contacting Palm, because I'm sick of hardware lockouts, software lockouts, and companies that focus on fleecing the consumer. Why does every damn phone on the planet have a unique charger? RIM had the brains to just use a USB port. They rocked, and that's one of the selling points that caused me to choose their 7100t model over six other phones at HALF the 300.00 price. I didn't have to buy a super-special charger destined to fail in six months. In fact, the RIM phone came with a USB cable. Ta-da. Batteries, chargers, cases, earphones, and accessories would sell BETTER [read that again AT&FU, better!] if they were ISO standardized. There's no reason on Earth why all accessories can't be USB and/or Bluetooth, except one: Greed.
Speaking of uber-greed, T-mobile actually LOCKED the Bluetooth functionality so that the 7100 was practically useless for the stated purpose of purchase; I wanted a phone to interact with my Toshiba laptop. T-mobile stated that the phone HAD NO MODEM. Well, I went online and found the instructions for unlocking it and used the non-existant modem for over a year and half to go on the internet with my Laptop. The thing that finally pissed me off was watching my college buddies just lay down their Motorola phones and wirelessly go online via the phone with their laptops. I had to set up with cables, and it wasn't quick. I sold the RIM phone for a few bucks because the company couldn't sell me an UNLOCKED phone.
I've already paid, sight unseen, over 500.00 for an open hardware phone that isn't even guaranteed to work. I'd rather have to fix it, order parts, fix it agian, and then load the OS myself, in order to have a working phone, than go back to proprietary systems that are aimed at blocking the consumer from competitors.
You're talking to a businessman. I've owned a few companies myself in my time. My family has owned bowling alleys, diners, retail shops, and more. I worked in most of them at one time or another. I'm now planning for commercial ownership in 2008 as a part of my retirement. I'm no stranger to the need to make a profit.
There's one thing I am a stranger to though, the need to screw the customer. Somehow, over 30 years, I've managed to make a living without once ever cheating anyone, at all. I've given refunds that were undeserved just to maintain the peace with customers who were upset. It's better to give back a few bucks and salvage a customer. You don't make more money by saying 'No' to your clients. You make more money by saying one word: Yes.
D
RE:http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/21/dear-palm-its-time-for-an-intervention/
I have an OpenMoko phone on order. I've just laid out over 500.00 just for the chance to actually play with an open source phone. I'm not alone. I eagerly await the chance to review it, and I've ordered SIM for it from the UK. [hate US telcos passionately, esp AT&FU.]
{Here's a side note, never let your company's icons become the death star equivalent. People have good reasons to hate that company.}
I used to want a Palm so bad that I'd scour used and pawn shops looking for them, but then the BB7100t came out and I bought it, to the tune of over 300.00. I never actually GOT a Palm, largely because of advertising, features, and software.
Here's another tidbit: Bloggers buy the stuff they review. We are both consumers and media, and we aren't paid to report, but rather we pay for the privilege to report. I have an ad-free site that I happily shell-out over 300 a year to maintain. Nobody owns me.
So what's the story Palm? Here's an opportunity for you to talk to bloggers directly. I'm actually mid-way through an advertising plan where I'm *paying* to increase eyeballs and improve readership. A killer article on Palm would sweep the 'nets.
Demopoly
Friday, August 24, 2007
Monday, August 20, 2007
Survival Tips and Tricks
Part Two: Disclaimer.
As a Navy vet I've been through the standard USN ocean survival course, desert survival, and emergency preparedness training. Most Navy recruits are fairly close to becoming EMTs after they've completed basic training, and I could have gone to work as a Lifeguard if I'd wanted that career. However, I take my own advice and never rely on my own information alone when giving out advice. Some of my advice comes from military experience, some from FEMA, some from the Red Cross, and some from sources like "Cap'n Dave."
http://www.captaindaves.com/dl-list/dl1-toc.htm
As a Los Angeles resident I've done my fair share of mountain climbing, spelunking, surfing, skating, geocaching, and camping. Again, I combine my own experiences with the wisdom of others before offering advice. The US Geological survey is always your friend; Get your maps, equipment lists, and skill requirements in that one site.
Part One: Advice.
This section is parsed into logically advancing difficulty from most common to least common likelihood of incidence.
Power Outage or Supply Blockage.
All most people need is a good source of clean water. In Urban and Inner city areas water isn't as easy to find unless you live near the reservoir or a stream. Here are some quick rules for survival.
Get two milk jugs, rinse them, and fill with water. Two jugs for each person in the home equals about four days of drinking water. These can be stored for more than a year, but I'd recommend refilling them once a year on New Years day or some other memorable occasion.
The average American home has enough food in it to last for more than a month. Leave the refrigerator closed for the first 8 hours. If the outage continues, then you want to begin consuming all the refrigerated food first, followed by all the frozen food. Refrigerated food that begins to warm will be bad within 24 hours or less, depending upon the food. Eat dairy and raw meats first (after cooking the meat of course.) Dispose of any food that goes bad in OUTSIDE trash receptacles. Don't eat when you are not hungry, just try to use up the perishables first.
DO NOT tamper with your water heater or fire hydrants, or any other utility such as power lines. Such activities could be fatal and are likely to be illegal. If the water has been off a long time, you'll want the water heater water for flushing the toilet. Don't drain it to drink out of, drain it into a bucket and use the bucket to fill the toilet reservoir. IF you have an outside source of "dirty" water such as a muddy stream or rusty water line, use THAT for flushing, and then you can drink from the water heater.
Ideally, you'll want to locate a source of fresh or filtered water, but most cities begin distributing bottled water by the second or third day anyway. Don't panic, just state your needs to the field workers. 90-some percent of all power and water outages are less than 4 hours in duration.
For the paranoid or the overachiever: Get a water filtration unit that you could use when camping. Stock a few crates of bottled water. A flat of ramen wouldn't hurt as a backup food source.
Earthquake, Hurricane, Tornado.
Damage caused by disasters can be more severe, lasting from a week to several months. The worst case on record is Hurricane Katrina. Here, again, the Government responds, and in force. Water, relocation, rescue, and other operations are typically enacted within 12-24 hours. The local government is usually incapacitated. State and Federal forces generally step in to provide service and safety.
Again, the thing you need most is water. Secondly, you need food. Tertially, you need toiletries. It's not impossible or expensive to stock up on these items yourself, and many homeowners do keep more than a month's supply of essentials (think of a 4 week camping trip) in the garage.
One other thing you'll need is to promote safety while at the same time being helpful. Rich people who distribute food are never raided or looted, it's the shopkeeper that people hate, or whom has lots of goodies in the window, that gets 'smashed and grabbed.' There's no reason to feel that you need to be armed or should fear the people around you. Humans are unusually cooperative and protective when disaster strikes. The media presents an image of looters and rioting that is far in excess of the realities of these situations.
Avoid touching any power lines or utilities. Do not scavenge or loot. ASK for help, loudly if necessary. Share resources that work, such as if your house still has power, water, or phone. Stay off the cell phones and home phones if there isn't a serious need to use them, as these facilities are often hard-hit, and emergency workers need the airwaves. Really.
Work with neighbors in small groups to obtain help, distribute whatever resources are gifted, and always listen to the service workers or national guard.
Government Failure, Anarchy, Revolution.
Think back to the Great Depression. Those circumstances were fairly dire for some people in some states. This is unlikely to ever happen again in our lifetimes, but even so it doesn't hurt to be prepared. A little paranoia won't hurt you.
Keep a small amount of gold or silver, or cheap gems in a house safe. These will help you survive temporary money-system failures with amazing ease. There are stories of widows auctioning jewels for food, etc. Be prepared for value systems to shift radically. Items that perish are less valuable than items that do not.
Don't bother to arm yourself more than you already are. Economic crashes rarely result in revolution or open fighting in the streets, and never since the French Revolution has this happened. The average household has enough items in it to create a respectable variety of weapons, if you think about it. I'll leave that topic to others more paranoid than I.
Generally, what happens is there is a bottoming out of valuation, followed by a graduated recovery. Severe economic damage only changes the level of activity. People don't stop buying and selling, but the prices change and the circumstances shift. You'll learn to be more thrifty and careful.
Drop all nonessential activities and spending. Eat cheaper, grow as much of your own food as possible, and cease entertainment activities like "shopping" and "nights out". You'll be fine. Ghana, Estonia, Bavaria, and a dozen other countries have been through exactly these circumstances and they're doing better year after year.
It's more important to pay attention to the local economy, people who need help, and building back a positive infrastructure.
Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical warfare.
In these cases, we're probably toast. Should you be lucky and survive, there are priorities, and you need to figure out what happened. A portable FM radio should provide needed emergency information. In the case of all three events, you're best-off if you stay indoors, if your shelter/home survived. The longer you can stay inside the better you'll fare.
If you travel outside, you'll face radiation, concentrated contamination areas, exposure to biologicals, as well as an increased risk of causing harm to yourself through accidents. Think about it. Thousands, or millions of other people will also stupidly be wandering about, looking for trouble, looting, assuming that the government is dead and all laws are void.
The government will not be dead. The ability of the government to protect you is probably dead, however. That doesn't mean that there won't still be national guard who'll shoot looters or defend federal buildings. Therefore, the best advice I can give is be prepared to remain indoors, quiet, and don't attract attention to yourself for the longest possible time.
Speak and interact only with uniformed people or people driving City or State or Federal vehicles. Going outside just to visit your neighbors could be the last thing you ever do if there is radiation, viral, or chemical pollution outside. Do what the radio tells you to do. This is absolutely positively the only time I'd advise anyone to trust the government. They're the ones who have to deal with the mess. Granted, Katrina wasn't a golden example of how to handle a disaster, but that's a specific example and a localized disaster complicated by levees, below sea-level lands, and other long-term problems which had never been addressed.
D
As a Navy vet I've been through the standard USN ocean survival course, desert survival, and emergency preparedness training. Most Navy recruits are fairly close to becoming EMTs after they've completed basic training, and I could have gone to work as a Lifeguard if I'd wanted that career. However, I take my own advice and never rely on my own information alone when giving out advice. Some of my advice comes from military experience, some from FEMA, some from the Red Cross, and some from sources like "Cap'n Dave."
http://www.captaindaves.com/dl-list/dl1-toc.htm
As a Los Angeles resident I've done my fair share of mountain climbing, spelunking, surfing, skating, geocaching, and camping. Again, I combine my own experiences with the wisdom of others before offering advice. The US Geological survey is always your friend; Get your maps, equipment lists, and skill requirements in that one site.
Part One: Advice.
This section is parsed into logically advancing difficulty from most common to least common likelihood of incidence.
Power Outage or Supply Blockage.
All most people need is a good source of clean water. In Urban and Inner city areas water isn't as easy to find unless you live near the reservoir or a stream. Here are some quick rules for survival.
Get two milk jugs, rinse them, and fill with water. Two jugs for each person in the home equals about four days of drinking water. These can be stored for more than a year, but I'd recommend refilling them once a year on New Years day or some other memorable occasion.
The average American home has enough food in it to last for more than a month. Leave the refrigerator closed for the first 8 hours. If the outage continues, then you want to begin consuming all the refrigerated food first, followed by all the frozen food. Refrigerated food that begins to warm will be bad within 24 hours or less, depending upon the food. Eat dairy and raw meats first (after cooking the meat of course.) Dispose of any food that goes bad in OUTSIDE trash receptacles. Don't eat when you are not hungry, just try to use up the perishables first.
DO NOT tamper with your water heater or fire hydrants, or any other utility such as power lines. Such activities could be fatal and are likely to be illegal. If the water has been off a long time, you'll want the water heater water for flushing the toilet. Don't drain it to drink out of, drain it into a bucket and use the bucket to fill the toilet reservoir. IF you have an outside source of "dirty" water such as a muddy stream or rusty water line, use THAT for flushing, and then you can drink from the water heater.
Ideally, you'll want to locate a source of fresh or filtered water, but most cities begin distributing bottled water by the second or third day anyway. Don't panic, just state your needs to the field workers. 90-some percent of all power and water outages are less than 4 hours in duration.
For the paranoid or the overachiever: Get a water filtration unit that you could use when camping. Stock a few crates of bottled water. A flat of ramen wouldn't hurt as a backup food source.
Earthquake, Hurricane, Tornado.
Damage caused by disasters can be more severe, lasting from a week to several months. The worst case on record is Hurricane Katrina. Here, again, the Government responds, and in force. Water, relocation, rescue, and other operations are typically enacted within 12-24 hours. The local government is usually incapacitated. State and Federal forces generally step in to provide service and safety.
Again, the thing you need most is water. Secondly, you need food. Tertially, you need toiletries. It's not impossible or expensive to stock up on these items yourself, and many homeowners do keep more than a month's supply of essentials (think of a 4 week camping trip) in the garage.
One other thing you'll need is to promote safety while at the same time being helpful. Rich people who distribute food are never raided or looted, it's the shopkeeper that people hate, or whom has lots of goodies in the window, that gets 'smashed and grabbed.' There's no reason to feel that you need to be armed or should fear the people around you. Humans are unusually cooperative and protective when disaster strikes. The media presents an image of looters and rioting that is far in excess of the realities of these situations.
Avoid touching any power lines or utilities. Do not scavenge or loot. ASK for help, loudly if necessary. Share resources that work, such as if your house still has power, water, or phone. Stay off the cell phones and home phones if there isn't a serious need to use them, as these facilities are often hard-hit, and emergency workers need the airwaves. Really.
Work with neighbors in small groups to obtain help, distribute whatever resources are gifted, and always listen to the service workers or national guard.
Government Failure, Anarchy, Revolution.
Think back to the Great Depression. Those circumstances were fairly dire for some people in some states. This is unlikely to ever happen again in our lifetimes, but even so it doesn't hurt to be prepared. A little paranoia won't hurt you.
Keep a small amount of gold or silver, or cheap gems in a house safe. These will help you survive temporary money-system failures with amazing ease. There are stories of widows auctioning jewels for food, etc. Be prepared for value systems to shift radically. Items that perish are less valuable than items that do not.
Don't bother to arm yourself more than you already are. Economic crashes rarely result in revolution or open fighting in the streets, and never since the French Revolution has this happened. The average household has enough items in it to create a respectable variety of weapons, if you think about it. I'll leave that topic to others more paranoid than I.
Generally, what happens is there is a bottoming out of valuation, followed by a graduated recovery. Severe economic damage only changes the level of activity. People don't stop buying and selling, but the prices change and the circumstances shift. You'll learn to be more thrifty and careful.
Drop all nonessential activities and spending. Eat cheaper, grow as much of your own food as possible, and cease entertainment activities like "shopping" and "nights out". You'll be fine. Ghana, Estonia, Bavaria, and a dozen other countries have been through exactly these circumstances and they're doing better year after year.
It's more important to pay attention to the local economy, people who need help, and building back a positive infrastructure.
Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical warfare.
In these cases, we're probably toast. Should you be lucky and survive, there are priorities, and you need to figure out what happened. A portable FM radio should provide needed emergency information. In the case of all three events, you're best-off if you stay indoors, if your shelter/home survived. The longer you can stay inside the better you'll fare.
If you travel outside, you'll face radiation, concentrated contamination areas, exposure to biologicals, as well as an increased risk of causing harm to yourself through accidents. Think about it. Thousands, or millions of other people will also stupidly be wandering about, looking for trouble, looting, assuming that the government is dead and all laws are void.
The government will not be dead. The ability of the government to protect you is probably dead, however. That doesn't mean that there won't still be national guard who'll shoot looters or defend federal buildings. Therefore, the best advice I can give is be prepared to remain indoors, quiet, and don't attract attention to yourself for the longest possible time.
Speak and interact only with uniformed people or people driving City or State or Federal vehicles. Going outside just to visit your neighbors could be the last thing you ever do if there is radiation, viral, or chemical pollution outside. Do what the radio tells you to do. This is absolutely positively the only time I'd advise anyone to trust the government. They're the ones who have to deal with the mess. Granted, Katrina wasn't a golden example of how to handle a disaster, but that's a specific example and a localized disaster complicated by levees, below sea-level lands, and other long-term problems which had never been addressed.
D
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Welcome the New SS!
I think the title is absolutely perfect: "The Age Of Endarkenment."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/aug/15/endarkenment
Towers just like WTC towers catch fire, burn twice as long, do not fall down.
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/august2007/150807_not_collapse.htm
Hmmm... America in some sort of Alternate Reality?
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8669488783707640763&hl=en-GB
Selfabsorbedness:
http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/durst/058
THIS is what software piracy looks like. You probably aren't doing this:
http://pics.czechian.net/
People run because they know they won't get a fair trial.
http://www.winknews.com/news/weird/9151246.html
Even corporations are not safe from partisan politics:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/14/AR2007081401784.html?hpid=sec-business
The SS brownshirts:
http://alternet.org/blogs/peek/59746/
SPYs R Us:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118714764716998275.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/aug/15/endarkenment
Towers just like WTC towers catch fire, burn twice as long, do not fall down.
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/august2007/150807_not_collapse.htm
Hmmm... America in some sort of Alternate Reality?
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8669488783707640763&hl=en-GB
Selfabsorbedness:
http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/durst/058
THIS is what software piracy looks like. You probably aren't doing this:
http://pics.czechian.net/
People run because they know they won't get a fair trial.
http://www.winknews.com/news/weird/9151246.html
Even corporations are not safe from partisan politics:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/14/AR2007081401784.html?hpid=sec-business
The SS brownshirts:
http://alternet.org/blogs/peek/59746/
SPYs R Us:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118714764716998275.html
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