My Lastest BlackBerry Bold App Load (June 2009)

I receive a lot of questions on which BlackBerry applications I load on my BlackBerry Bold. Here they are. Let me know if you have any questions or if I can help.

SocialScope: Twitter and Facebook

* dual client for both services

* in private Beta

Facebook for BlackBerry: Facebook

* integrated with BlackBerry messages, calendar, and address book

Viigo: news, RSS feeds, movie times, simple weather

* can publish to Twitter and Delicious

YouVersion Bible: online Bible

* 40 Bible translations

Google Maps: maps, directions, local search, street view pictures

* works with GPS or tower triangulation

WeatherBug: detailed weather

* detailed with base station pictures, videos

Bloomberg: stock prices, charts, news

* surprisingly fast

FoxNews: breaking news

* icon turns red, buzzes when breaking news hits; link to website usually lame but this adds value

AP News: detailed news

* share stories over email, Delicious, Facebook

Slacker: streaming music

* can also store on SD card if synch over USB

Quickpull: simulates a battery pull

* press icon performs a “hard reboot”

QiK: real time video broadcasting

* share video link with Twitter, Youtube, Facebook, brightcove, twelve seconds, tumblr

Ubertwitter: my Twitter backup to SocialScope

* like the geotagged pictures capability

Yammer: internal corporate social media

* its Twitter for business

BlackBerry App World: authorized app portal for BlackBerry applications

I hope this helps.  Let me know if you have any questions.

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Silicon Valley’s Man, the Myth the Legend

The distinguished statue of founder of Advanced Micro Devices. In the lobby of 1 AMD Building in Sunnyvale, CA.

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Loving my Church band

Our church band “brings it” every Sunday, 4 times a day.  They really have a special way of bringing me out of that funk to get right before your God.

What you can’t see are the 1000’s of people behind me singing, clapping, raising their arms into the air, and praying.

Wonderful, deep experience for me that preps me for the word.

You can always join me Sundays at 11 am at Austin High School if you ever wanted to check it out.

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Multi-monitor Heaven, or when 4 just isn’t enough

I just love walking into an professional office and seeing each worker attached to 3-4 monitors per workstation. Sure, shrinkage sets in when I compare to my dual-monitor setup, but my two monitors are pretty large too.

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Palm Pre Touchstone Wireless Charging Kit with Magnetic Induction Technology

Tired of scrambling for that mini-USB, micro-USB or proprietary power cable? Palm obviously listened to consumers when they developed the optional “Touchstone Charging Kit.” It uses magnetic induction technology so that there are no cables to plug in when you need power. Just set the Pre on the Touchstone, and it starts charging. The Touchstone and back of the Pre click together magnetically and aside from being incredibly useful, is a lot of fun! Both the Pre back cover and the base of the charger are rubberized too which provides a soft landing. Check out the video below that shows this.

How Palm Pre Compares in Size to G1, Storm, Bold, ITouch

One of the key purchase criteria for a smartphone is size. Consumers consider whether they will carry in their pocket, purse, or for the real geek, in the front shirt pocket. In the video below I compare the Palm Pre size to the T-Mobile G1, the BlackBerry Storm, BlackBerry Bold, and the Apple iTouch.

Palm Pre features video overview

With all the buzz leading up to the Palm Pre launch, you would think that the Pre would kill off all other smartphones. The other phones are still alive I am happy to report for the sake of my trusty BlackBerry Bold. The Pre officially launched and I finally got the chance to get my hands on it.

It didn’t disappoint as it has some key distinguishing features like a GUI optimized for real multitasking. Palm calls these “Cards” probably based on their size, shape, and manner of closing- and they are very useful.

It’s a challenge to describe in print so I shot some videos to show off the Palm Pre’s capabilities.

Blankie meets Ice Cream

What happens when your son’s blanket meets a tub of chocolate ice cream?  Well, you can see by the picture that it’s not pretty.

If you have ever been on a family vacation, you never quite know what will happen next. Spilled drinks, throw up, who knows? That’s the spice of life I suppose.

So when my 6 (he says 6 and a half) year old son is swinging his blanket around his head like a cowboy roping a calf and it meets a tub of ice cream, you know what to expect.

We are now in the middle of cleaning ice cream off of the wall (as picture shows), sheets, pillow cases, pillows, his sisters, etc.

Tomorrow, it’s off to Six Flags Fiesta Texas where I hope we will find even more adventure!

The Appreciation from Children

Yesterday I was reminded of just how easy kids are to please and how much appreciation they have for the simple things in life. To anyone with children, it may sound like an oxymoron, but hear me out.

I had to go to work yesterday and pick up a car that died on me. I brought my 6 year old son with me. When he saw my company’s logo and buildings, he screamed it out with excitement. "Daddy this is where you work?  Cool".

From there on, everything was cool, you know, the things adults take for granted:

* Covered parking: We HAD to go to the top and look at the hills. The top floor had a backup generator, too.  Cool. He wanted to sprint from one end to the other. I obliged.

* Revolving doors: He got a little freaked out when he stepped in, it stopped, and HAL the robot said "unauthorized entry".

* Security guards: they call everyone by their formal names, but that was "cool".

* Flat panel in conference and meeting rooms: "Daddy can you watch TV on this?". I don’t know think so, as they don’t have tuners. Hulu, yes. 

* Break room: He loved that there a fridge and I had my hidden stash of Lime Diet Cokes inside. (Not a secret anymore). We shared one and it tasted even better that it was from the "stash".

* White boards: I handed him "the kit" consisting of 5 colors and dry eraser. He smiled. He drew a smiling Chewbacca  fighting a Tie-Fighter and a note to all my co-workers, "Bye…Patrick".
    
So once again, my kids teaching and reinforcing something in me. Any parents out there get that. You learn as much about life as they learn from you.

Adult’s constant strive to have bigger and badder cars, houses, clothes, and toys is a learned behavior from other adults. We call that "society".

If you have a chance this weekend to hang out with a 6 year old, do it, you may learn something about yourself. I did.

Spring Has Spring in Austin- Will it Last for SxSW?

Wow, spring is here in Austin, already. Leaves, bulbs, buds, flowers starting to spring up all over the place. Even starting to see some wildflowers popping up on the side of the road.

Not ready yet to turn on the pool heater, though, as it could flip back to chilly.  And pool heaters are no inexpensive proposition.

I hope for the sake of all the SxSWers, it stays nice.  If you are going to SxSW, let’s meetup on Saturday from 4 to 6.  http://budurl.com/AMDSXSW