RickyCadden.com

I’m Traveling Again

// August 31st, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Uncategorized

I’m traveling again, this time to Stuttgart, Germany, for Nokia World 2009. Normally, Nokia World takes place in December, so the earlier event dates will definitely make the weather a bit more bearable. I’m traveling quite gadget-heavy, as well, which is nothing unusual. For starters, I’m bringing 2 laptops. I realize that might be a mistake, but theoretically it will offer a great experience. Last year, I attempted to cover Nokia World with only the Fujitsu P1610, and it was a horrid experience. Managing massive high-resolution photos, including editing and uploading, simply wasn’t feasible with the weak processor, unfortunately.

This trip, I’ll have both my Dell XPS M1330 and my Asus 1000HE along for the ride. The XPS M1330 will likely stay in my bag most of the time, and will be extremely beneficial to edit videos and photos at the event, rather than having to wait until I get home. Conversely, the Asus 1000HE, while a powerful machine for its size, will be much better suited to taking notes during interviews and putting together quick blog posts on the go. Its extended battery – further extended by cranking down the display brightness and other factors – will also make it ideal to cover an event from.

I’m also bringing a borrowed Nokia N810 Internet Tablet, for two reasons – first, the Nokia N900 was recently announced, and it’ll be great to be able to get some side-by-side comparison photos of the long-lost brothers. Second, the N810 will make it even easier to liveblog a keynote speech or do other text-oriented tasks, in a handheld form factor.

As for phones, I’m bringing along the N86 8MP, E63 NAM, 5800 Euro, and an LG KT610. The LG will be given to Rita el Khoury, my editor who lives in Paris, France. Its tri-band GSM is of limited use to me in the U.S., so I figure she’ll be able to put it to good use. The N86 8MP will be my workhorse – performing the function of connectivity, as well as digital camera and video camera. It’s no easy task, but the last few weeks with this phone suggest that it’s definitely up to the task. The E63 NAM is only here as a charging device – it uses the same 1500mAh battery as the N810, and the 5800 Euro is only around in case the N86 8MP bites the dust (knock on wood).

You can follow the fun on twitter at @rcadden, or on Symbian-Guru.com.

Laptop Keyboard Backlights Should Be Standard

// June 16th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // toys

When I worked at Nokia, I was given a Lenovo Thinkpad as my work laptop. I don’t recall the exact model or anything, it was merely a work machine. However, one thing that really stuck out to me as a brilliant feature was a little tiny light nestled into the bezel around the display. With a hotkey combination, you could turn this tiny light on to illuminate your keyboard. This was extremely helpful when typing at night, or in other dark situations.

As a result, I purchased a backlit keyboard for my office, to plug into my Dell XPS M1330. There’s not much to it – I don’t do those fancy-pants keyboards – it’s just an external keyboard that has a bright blue backlight. Instantly evenings became more productive (which was good, because Mrs. Guru was working nights at the time) and my eyes felt less strained.

However, now I have a netbook, and I like to work from wherever I want to work. Unfortunately, I do not take this backlit keyboard with me, especially since my Asus EeePC 1000HE has a keyboard built in. The only laptops that I know of that have a backlit keyboard built in are the MacBook Pros and a few Windows gaming laptops. For whatever reason, it simply isn’t a common feature, but it should be.

There are a few mods, though none for my Asus EeePC 1000HE, unfortunately, since it has a rather unique keyboard. I wonder how much extra it would cost netbook and laptop manufacturers to include this feature in future models? Even cooler would be the ability to change the color of the backlight, through a special application on the computer, though I would gladly accept a single color, as well.

I Want A Smarter Laptop

// June 4th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // technology

One of the things that I’m fascinated with about smartphones in particular is their growing ability to be contextually aware. It’s something Nokia is pushing towards, and I know the iPhone and Android phones do it, too. For instance, with a few 3rd party applications, I can set my Nokia N79 to automatically switch to the ‘Night’ profile at 10pm, and launch Mobbler, which allows me to stream Last.FM stations over my home WiFi network. I can also set it to switch to silent when I arrive at church, so that I’m not ‘that guy’ whose phone goes off in the middle of service.

This is awesome for phones, but what about laptops and netbooks? I boot my computer up in different situations all the time, but yet it is not aware of those changing situations, and can’t react to them.

For instance, my Dell XPS M1330 boots up the same, with the same startup applications, whether it’s connected to a power outlet or not. It isn’t able to detect whether or not I have the external monitor, keyboard, and mouse hooked up, nor if I’m booting up in a coffee shop. Why does it need to know that?

Well, if I’m booting up at home, in my office, with all the external peripherals hooked up, I would like it to automatically start Firefox, Digsby, Skype, MediaMonkey, and Photoshop, since I use those for work. However, if I’m at Starbucks, I’d likely rather choose which applications start on boot, and I’d also like it to automatically mute the speakers, so that I don’t accidentally blast the place with my startup sounds.

I’d like similar intelligence in my netbook. If I boot up on my home network, I’d like it to go ahead and launch Seesmic Desktop, and probably Last.FM, too. If I have Bluetooth disabled, I’d also like for Nokia’s PC Suite to not bother launching – but when I turn Bluetooth on, I’d like that to also launch PC Suite, so I can connect my phone.

As my computer – be it laptop or netbook – gets more advanced, there’s no reason it shouldn’t get a little bit more intelligent, as well. Eventually, I’d like to have a learning system – it might notice that somewhere around 9pm every weeknight, I launch Firefox and go to MSN Games to play a little online poker. How cool would it be if my computer could learn that behaviour, and automatically do it for me (with some settings so I could maintain control)?

Am I asking too much, or is this something you think computers should be able to do, as well? Why do phones get all the glory when it comes to contextual awareness?

My Desk, AKA Central Command

// February 18th, 2009 // 14 Comments » // blogging, toys

As a blogger/online journalist, one of the most important things is my desk. While I can (and often do) work from just my laptop while travelling or too lazy to go into my office, my desk is where I go when I need to get some serious work done, and where I spend most of my time. So then, what’s the desk of a self-proclaimed multitasking wizard look like? This:

As you can see, I have ADD, bad. Let’s go through though, so I can explain a bit of what each thing is/does.

#1 – The Dell Mini 9, with Windows 7. When I’m at my desk, the Dell Mini 9 is running Tweetdeck, signed into my personal rcadden account. This lets me interact with friends, and often serves as a source of quick news. I put Windows 7 back on it, and am enjoying it SO much more.

#2 – The Dell XPS M1330 with external (backlit) keyboard, mouse, and monitor. This is by far the brains of the operation. Below the external monitor there, you’ll also see my current phone, whatever it happens to be.

#3 – Cell Phone Central. This is where I keep all the phones that I’m currently using/reviewing/thinking about. For obvious reasons, I can’t keep my current phone in that pile, or I’d never f ind it. Bonus points for the commenter who’s able to pick out each phone there.

#4 – Gateway MX6956. This is the computer that my Dell XPS M1330 replaced, now running Windows 7. I’ve recently setup a dedicated symbianguru Twitter account, and this laptop is running Tweetdeck, signed into that account. This one also serves as our house DVD player, since it has the biggest screen.

The actual desk, in case you’re wondering, is an 8′ banquet table from Home Depot. It’s built from sturdy plastic and metal, folds for easy portability, and it offers a huge workspace. I covered the top with corkboard, which makes the whole thing a mousepad, and also lets me set drinks and whatnot on it, without having to worry finding a coaster.

I’m well aware of the irony that I’m a ‘mobile blogger’ and yet my desk has 3 computers on it, one of which has 2 monitors hooked up. However, I can easily unplug either of the Dell computers for a trip to the couch or the beach, and get just as much work done (probably more, without 2 different Tweetdecks attacking me from each side, lol).

Stuff I Choose Not To Live Without

// January 6th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // technology

Zach @ The Outsidr posted his list of products that he simply can’t live without earlier, and as any blogger with nothing to talk about is prone to do, I’m going to carry on his ‘meme’ with my own list. Yes, of course we *could* live without these things, if absolutely necessary, so I’ve renamed my list, ‘Stuff I Choose Not To Live Without.’

First up, frankly, is my phone. Specifically, the Nokia N95-3. Sure, I’ve also got the E71-2, N79 NAM, 5800 XpressMusic, N82, and LG KT610 on my desk right now, but none can really truly replace my tried-and-true pocket companion. The Nokia N95-3 gives me a great camera (both photos and videos), full email access, internet, Jaiku, and of course, phone calls/SMS. It’s like having my laptop in my pocket, and I *could* post to my various blogs from it. I refuse to go anywhere without it.

Next up, obviously, is my Dell XPS M1330. I’m an online journalist/blogger, so obviously my laptop is vital to my livlihood. The XPS M1330 is by no means a top-of-the-line machine, but it’s small(ish), light, and packs plenty of kick to write posts, edit photos and videos, and anything else I need to do.

Last.FM is the first service on this list. While I maintain a rather large collection of MP3s, Last.FM gives me a fresh set of tunes, instantly tailored specifically to ME. I can type in ‘Productivity’ and get great working music, or ‘Relaxing’ and get music to calm me down. I use Mobbler on my N95-3, too, so I can enjoy Last.FM on the go.

Partially to appease James Whatley, I have to add Spinvox to this list. Spinvox takes the voicemails that my family and others leave me, converts them to text, and delivers it as an SMS. I’m bad about screening phone calls, so this lets me instantly and visually determine if I need to call you back today or next week. It’s completely brilliant, and something that gets used nearly every day.

Firefox is another non-hardware item that I simply could not live without. 95% of my workload is done in Firefox, and the other 5% could be, probably, if I wanted. It’s my window to the world, and like my Dell XPS M1330, it’s crucial to my livlihood.

I’ve talked about them before, but my Bose earphones are another thing that I would go nuts without. Oftentimes, I have trouble concentrating on the task at hand, but if I toss these in with Last.FM set to ‘techno’, I can push the rest of the world out of my view and simply focus on writing. They’re wonderful.

That’s it. 6 things that I absolutely choose not to live without. Of course, I have a ton of other fun toys that I would *prefer* not to live without, such as my external monitor, Fujitsu P1610, Nokia N800, and others, but the fact is that they are not absolutely vital in my day-to-date live. What about you?