iPhone 3GS

first pic from the iPhone

I took the plunge. There was a time when I said that I didn't need a driver's license (Mom loves to recount this). There was a time when I when I said I would never join Facebook (Erin reminds me of this fact once in a while). And there was a time when I said that I'd never get an iPhone on AT&T's network.

Well, all that's changed. When Mom decided to take the family plan to AT&T for the sole purpose of getting iPhones, I caved and got the fanciest one on the market. So far I've been able to sync my Gmail contacts and all my music to the phone as well as set up several o f the popular apps.

I can see how having such a connected mobile device is going to be a game changer for me. All I can hope for now is for AT&T to quit being so restrictive of Google and for the AT&T service to continue to work in my apartment.

Invited to Google Voice

I opened Gmail yesterday to find a Google Voice invite. Prior to the invite I hadn't given the service much thought. I figured it was probably handy for someone with several different numbers to juggle or someone who wanted to keep an old number as well as get a new one? In any case, the reality of the interface is much more familiar than I'd originally thought.

Think Gmail for your voicemail (cause that's basically what it is). It takes no more than five minutes to setup and get acclimated. You can have the Google Voice number forward to any other phone number that you have access to. I've yet to fully explore the integration with Google Talk due to PC troubles, but I'd expect that Google's aiming for a Skype-like app.

One cool feature is the transcription of your voicemail into an inbox message. I can't it's all that accurate though. It transcribed this, "Hey Mike, eh, the cubs just struck out in the bottom of the third and the score's tied three to three so starting the fourth inning. Bye bye," to "hey mike either have a comes just truck out in the bottom of the 3rd tennis course tag 323 so starting before thing bye bye." A cool feature, but totally impractical if this is representative of the quality of transcription. All in all it's cool, but not that amazing.

IE8 finally working on my netbook

The netbook is back! I'd set it aside a few months ago after getting the MacBook from work. Don't get me wrong, I still used it, but just not quite as much. Then I foolishly decided to let Windows Update install IE8, and the crash-on-launch behavior of IE8 began. I got frustrated. There didn't seem to be a quick fix, and so I quit using the 1000HE (IE isn't my primary browser, but is easiest for me to check my work email).

Now that my main Windows box is still experiencing the sniffles from a full blown virus, I've returned to the netbook and am happy to report that IE8 is all better. As part of the repair process for the desktop I went through the Control Panel to reset all Internet Options to the factory settings. This proved to be the fix for IE8 on the 1000HE. If you happen to have a similar problem or hear of someone who does, suggest this simple solution. You'll loose all your customizatinos, but you should probably be using Firefox or Chrome as a primary browser anyway.

HTML5 Drum Kit

This is just cool.

http://www.randomthink.net/labs/html5drums/

Enough said.