Shiny Things - January 17th, 2008
Jan. 17th, 2008
05:43 am - The Wrist Phone
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bravesir_reuben has alerted me that it's time for me to upgrade my OnHand PC brand PDA watch. This new iMobile M600 cellphone watch has many features that my old watch needed: USB, rechargeable batteries, color, MP3 and movie playback, and--hello--it's a cellphone (it even comes with a bluetooth headset, so I can have a little blinking light over my ear to distract people). And all of this is at the price I originally paid for my old watch.
However, I've recently stopped wearing my watch. I wasn't keeping the data up to date, because it was a pain over the RS-232 adapter, and then the wristband broke. I replaced the wristband but didn't keep the new springbars, and now the band won't stay attached, so it kept falling off. Then I noticed that I already have a cell phone that I was only keeping in the car, but it has all the information I typically wanted on the watch--time and phone numbers--and it even has a built-in flashlight. Now I find that I don't miss having something on my wrist that keeps getting caught on things, and I like for bushi7 and the kids to be able to contact me at any time (though I don't share the number with very many people: I like privacy too). The only downside is that I can't inobtrusively check the time during meetings anymore: I have to get the thing out of my pocket. What I need now is to upgrade my phone with a laser pointer: I'm starting to find them very handy in meetings, and then I'd have an excuse to have my phone out so I could check the time too.
Also, my cellphone service only works with the phones they provide (none of which are wristwatches or have laser pointers). So I'd have to change carriers, and probably pay more than the $5 a month or so that I'm paying now. I don't mind too much putting down a chunk of change on a new piece of equipment, but I hate acquiring new recurring expenses.
So, shiny as the wrist phone is, I'll be giving it a pass. For now.
07:52 am - Reuben Show Airtime Announcement
Over on reubeneater's blog: here's the post. Apparently it's a bit early to set your TiVo's, but don't forget!
08:02 am - Second Life Usability Project
As my semester project for my HCI class, I'm doing a usability evaluation and redesign of the Second Life viewer. (Actually, to control the scope of my work and to make it something that I can mock up in software, I expect to focus only on the inventory subsystem.) I need three or four users to help me with the project: it's okay if you're a new user, but you have to be local so I can observe you using the system. So far I have two. Any volunteers?
Thanks!
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