John at myITforum.com

Remember them?  I haven’t used it in many moons but…

Google has dropped Trillian from its Google Pack software suite with nary an explanation, prompting a terse reaction from Cerulean Studios, maker of the popular instant messaging application.

 

I’ve posted before about the smells of summer.  I love this time of year.  Fresh mowed grass (particularly yards full of wild onion…you know who you are), wood fires, barbeques.  I love walking outside and smelling someone grilling out, or smelling my own (grills…don’t go there).  Which got me to thinking.  I know I’m not alone.  I know there are more folks out there that really love the smell of a good barbeque.  Why not create a good barbeque potpourri?  Granted, you may weigh considerably more than you should.  I know I probably would.  I’d think I need to eat all the time.  But what a smell that would create indoors.

 

Brighthand is reporting delays are due to the FCC.

Although both Sprint and Verizon have announced plans to offer Palm, Inc.'s latest smartphone, both have been somewhat vague on exactly when this was going to start. One reason for this was revealed today: the Treo 700p hadn't been approved by the Federal Communications Commission.

http://christies.com/special_sites/startrek/overview.asp

And the Department of Defense is using it to…

http://local.live.com/

Microsoft Virtual Earth.  Microsoft is collaborating with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, a division of the Department of Defense, on its Virtual Earth technology. The NGA wants to use the Virtual Earth technology "to provide geospatial support for humanitarian, peacekeeping and national security efforts," Microsoft said in a statement on Thursday.

Have a Pocket PC or Smartphone?  Do you use Live Communication Server 2005?  Microsoft released Office Communicator Mobile.

Communicator Mobile extends the reach of Live Communications Server 2005 to information workers who use Windows Mobile based devices. Communicator Mobile offers a similar look and feel to the desktop version of Microsoft Office Communicator 2005, and it ensures that access to capabilities that are provided by Live Communications Server 2005 continues when users are away from their desks.

Communicator Mobile is available in four editions for Windows Mobile based devices, depending on which operating system the device is running. The installation file for each operating system is as follows:

Windows Mobile 2003 SE for Pocket PCs
Downloadable file name: CommunicatorMobile_PPC2003.msi.

Windows Mobile 5.0 for Pocket PCs
Downloadable file name: CommunicatorMobile_PPC50.msi.

Windows Mobile 2003 SE for Smartphone
Downloadable file name: CommunicatorMobile_SP2003.msi.

Windows Mobile 5.0 for Smartphone
Downloadable file name: CommunicatorMobile_SP50.msi.

More than three-fourths of respondents to a recent survey said they feel job burnout, while more than 50 percent feel they are under a "great deal of stress."  Sixteen percent of respondents blame their colleagues for their office woes, followed by unrealistic workload, tight deadlines, last-minute projects and meddling bosses.

The "office stress" study was conducted by CareerBuilder.com and included 2,500 online responses.  More than 50% feel they are under a great deal of stress, more than 75% feel job burnout. 

CareerBuilder.com’s tips for reducing stress:

- Organize and prioritize by taking care of the more difficult and important tasks early in the day.

- Manage expectations so that you can achieve your goals and deliver on promises to others.

- Set aside a period of time dedicated to responding to e-mail and voicemails.

- Lastly, take care of yourself. A healthier you is more productive and happier.

Which begs the question.  What happened to leisure time and vacations?  When’s the last time you had a real vacation, I mean time off you actually unplugged and ignored work?  I remember reading articles years ago that said we were headed for a day and age where we had so much free time we wouldn’t know what to do with it.  When I was growing up, trying to find stores open late in the evenings during the week was hard.  Saturdays was taboo and the hours open for stores was different.  Forget finding stores open on Sunday’s.  I actually think there were laws forbidding stores to be open on Sunday.  Remember that?  Now, lots of stores are open 24x7, and they post signs on the stores weeks in advance when they are actually closing.

Out of curiosity, I want statistic hunting.  The average employed person is now on the job an additional 163 hours, or the equivalent of one month a year compared to figures 30 years ago.  Can you believe that?  We’re working a month more per year than our parents did, with all of our technological advances.  A recent survey shows that 38% of us work more than 50 hours per week.  The economists really called this one didn’t they?  What’s wrong with us?  Do we not know how to have fun anymore?

Demonstrating its commitment to providing mobile professionals with a choice of smartphone operating systems, Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq:PALM) today announced the Palm(R) Treo(TM) 700p smartphone, which includes hardware and software innovations centered around usability, connectivity, multimedia and compatibility. As the first Palm OS(R) CDMA-based Treo smartphone to offer the broadbandlike speeds(1) of the EvDO (Evolution Data Optimized) network(2), the Treo 700p smartphone helps customers better balance their personal and professional lives by combining an easy-to-use mobile phone with high-speed wireless data access to web, email, business and multimedia applications.(3)

Pricing and availability for the Palm Treo 700p smartphone will be announced later by Sprint and Verizon Wireless.

Full press release here.

My first true Pocket PC phone was the Siemens sx66.  Up until a few months ago, that was my regular device.  Then Siemens got out of the cell phone business, refused to come out with a Windows Mobile 5 upgrade for it, and sold the handheld unit to BenQ. 

Now BenQ has FINALLY released a phone, the P50 Communicator.  Why a day late and a dollar short?  The P50 was originally slated for launch in late 2004, and amidst the hype of Windows Mobile 5, released the P50 with Windows Mobile 2003.   Imagine a thumbboard equipped handheld without the one-handed OS.  Hopefully they’ll release the WM5 upgrade real soon.

CNet is reporting that Palm is set to release the 700p tomorrow.  Is the story accurate?  Of course, CNet included “a Palm representative declined to comment for this story”.  Word has it that both Sprint PCS and Verizon Wireless will carry the 700p.  This leaves me wondering what the GSM/GPRS carriers like Cingular and T-Mobile USA are doing. 

I think companies leak information intentionally to build hype, then refuses to comment on what they leaked to the media.  Word spreads real fast these days with blogs and RSS feeds.  You can post a blog or a news article, the RSS feeds pick it up, then you can delete it and say it was posted in error.  The news is already “out there” in millions of news readers and aggregators.  Nothing like building a little hype around a product before launch date. 

I can neither confirm nor deny.

You’ve probably seen the stories in the press the last few days regarding the allegations that the NSA has been illegally spying on us.  According to USA Today, Verizon has been named in a lawsuit that alleges they gave phone records to the NSA.

Verizon Communications Inc. faces its first lawsuit that claims the phone carrier violated privacy laws for giving phone records to the National Security Agency for a secret surveillance program.

The lawsuit filed Friday asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.

USA Today reported on Thursday that the NSA has been building a database of millions of Americans' everyday telephone calls since shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Verizon, AT&T Corp. and BellSouth Corp. provided data, or so the paper reported.

I don’t know about you, but does it really matter someone is watching who I’m calling?  Someone is watching almost everything we do these days.  Is someone after a fast buck in suing, or is this really a privacy issue that needs stopped?  Suppose this did contribute to preventing another terrorist attack.  Would it still matter?  Suppose spying contributes to finding sexual predators and prevents abuse?  Would it still matter? 

I blogged earlier that T-Mobile UK has banned IM and VoIP on its HSDPA network.  I just read that they just released a nice flat rate plan called WEb’n’Walk Professional, an unlimited data plan with nice fine print.  How can you call it an unlimited data plan, but then not only limit what you can do with it, but limit the amount of data you can use?  Is it really called a unlimited data plan?

The marketing folks must have had a field day with this one.  Why can’t we call it the limited unlimited data plan?

Go here, and read the Terms & Conditions.  I’ll include a few select quotes:

“To ensure a high quality of service for all our customers, they are not to be used for other activities such as (but not limited to): modem access for computers, internet based video/audio streaming services, peer to peer file sharing, internet based video download and internet based telephony. If such use is detected, notice may be given, after which network protection controls may be applied which will result in a reduced speed of transmission.”

“T-Mobile may contact customers who exceed this volume of data in two (or more) consecutive months in any six month period to ask them to reduce their usage. If usage is not reduced, notice may be given, after which network protection controls may be applied which will result in a reduced speed of transmission. Use of Voice over Internet Protocol and Messaging over Internet Protocol is prohibited by T-Mobile. If use of either or both of these services is detected T-Mobile may terminate all contracts with the customer and disconnect any SIM cards and/or web ‘n’ walk cards from the T-Mobile network.”

Real nice T-Mobile. 

Kevin Daly has been at it again.  He’s updated Diarist, the blogging software for the PPC.  It is now version 1.2.2313.15450, and supports .Text, Community Server, MSN Spaces, DasBlog, BlogX, Blogger, and Blogsphere. 

Install it, use it, blog from your Pocket PC/Windows Mobile device.  I installed it on my Cingular 8125 and it works great with the new community server web blogs.  Once the program is installed on your device (if you don’t have a Windows Mobile device, I feel your pain), here’s what to do:

Go to Start | Programs | Diarist.  Go to Weblog | Add | Community Server | MetaWeblog API.  The API is http://myitforum.com/cs2/blogs/metablog.ashx.  Add your username and password, click Next.  If there are no typos, you should have a Save option.  You should be all set to blog from anywhere you have a data connection on your WM5 or Pocket PC device. 

You can download the latest version (free) here.

Happy Posting. 

I stumbled across Vongo several weeks ago.  What’s Vongo?  It’s a movie download service from Starz.  I have DirecTV at home, and Starz is typically one of our favorite channels for watching movies.  They now offer a download service, and a streaming live TV service, directly to your computer or other portable device (yes, you can download and play from a portable media center).

They have a 14–day trial, and I must say, I went ahead and paid the $9.99 monthly fee to join.  I can download and watch as many movies as I want for that monthly fee, as long as Starz has the license for the movie.  That means, anything that Starz plays on their channels, I can carry it around on my laptop, PMP, and play it back anytime I want.  What a deal.  Unlimited movies for $9.99.  Movies are available at the same time they’re aired on Starz itself, you can register to play back on up to three devices, and there are thousands of movies to choose from.  My kids have already played Chicken Little on their computer a dozen times.  For the price of one DVD we would have had to purchase, I’d say it was a bargain.