Gadget lifestyle

While traveling this summer, I had a funny realization - my life (especially on the road) has been taken over by electronics. I was in Europe at an airport - I think it was in Budapest on my way out of Hungary, but it may have been Germany - too many airports on that trip. I passed my backpack into the scanner and they kept running back and forth. It turns out, I had it packed too densely with electronics to scan properly. Who knew?

I have learned to rely on a few key gadgets and some new ones as well. Topping the revised new list are my kindle eBook reader and my Zune music player for entertainment, my HP Tablet PC for keeping up with all things internet and such, the Nikon D-90 for capturing a photo record of the fun and my Garmin GPS to help me find my way. My Blackberry Tour keeps me in touch and connected to the internet both on the device and with Tether mode.
Of course, for power, you need the whole assortment - the international travel adapter kit, the power supplies for the notebooks. I usually have 2 there. The charger for the camera and cables to charge the Zune, Phone and Kindle along with a universal plug, an extension cord since hotel plugs are not always convenient. For mobile power, I have an inverter with a plug that adapts to fit the car or plane.

All this gadgetry makes life a little more fun, but takes up space. I typically keep this collection and a little more in my backpack when traveling and have had to learn to pack creatively to make it fit without jamming up the xray machines. The key is modular and layers like a cake or lasagna. mmmmm speaking of food - there needs to be a few goodies in there as well. I am particularly fond of the Starbucks Via packets for a quick pick me up.

May you live in interesting times...

Life in the King household has been interesting of late! A flareup of the nagging illness, little Tommy has Pneumonia (but is recovering slowly), work is chaos and I am banking on a layoff in the near future. Through it all, things are pretty good despite the normal drama added by having teens in the house.

We cut down a bunch of trees today banking the wood against the cold winter days and colder nights. Jimmy will have a good time splitting wood for a while. :) Thanks for your help Jimmy. Ben came over to help and dropped off the splitter, Jeremy and Neil both stopped by to cut in exchange for wood and we got more done then planned.

Neil cut the stump from one of the larger trees into a toilet and was so excited about getting a photo taken with the paper on the tree toilet. I will post one if I remember. I have spent the balance of the last two weeks on the road, preparing for travel, or recovering from travel - it looks like that is the future, short and long term. The upcoming layoff / job situation will drive a bit of that I am sure. More to come on all fronts.

Thoughts to ponder

You can either take action,
or you can hang back
and hope for a miracle.
Miracles are great,
but they are
so unpredictable.
- Peter F. Drucker

The people who get on
in this world
are the people who
get up and look for the
circumstances they want,
and if they can't find them,
make them.
- George Bernard Shaw

Blackberry development

So my blackberry 8330 died a sad death at the best of times, while traveling. It is amazing how much I had come to rely on that device. I use it for online access, tether mode for my laptop, calendar, etc... I went directly to the Verizon store on returning home, and was told the device was hosed, so time to upgrade. The new device is the 9630 World Edition and so far, I am impressed and pleased. That said, I feel a strange need to play with the SDK, or at least get started with the Plazmic CDK.

A quick internet search led me to the blackberry site and their sdk. The link required registration to download but you can find it here. Once you install the base application, you need to run the update as well.

Once I get the install finished and see how it works, I will update with a new post. In the meantime, keep your fingers crossed on the install since I am running Windows 7 and it is not listed as supported - probably due in part to the fact that Windows 7 has not been generally released yet.

cross posted from my digital vision site as well.

Traveling

I have been traveling a bit more lately, partly due to the merger / acquisition work I am engaged in and partly due to the need to meet with clients. This past week, I had yet another fun experience with US Scareways, spending almost 10 hours in the Philly (worst delays) airport trying to get a flight out to Burlington. The flight was delayed, delayed, and then finally canceled. Once I got through the rebook line, I found I was due to arrive in Burlington after the rental car place closed, and making it very challenging to get to my NY meetings in time. At that point with my wife's help, I got my travel agent on the line and decided to redirect to my next set of meetings in the morning rather then continue to fight the mess.

When I called my travel agent (Carlson Wagonlit), they completely straightened things out, got my no show hotel and car fees refunded and got me re booked on my new flights. I have to say, they have been THE BEST agents I have ever dealt with and I have used them numerous times in clinch plays to bail me out.

Here's to you nice agents at Carlson Wagonlit Corporate Travel! You have continually made bad experiences much more bearable - I am glad I can call you!

Love the e-Books

Recently, while traveling, I tried out our Sony eBook reader. It is a nice little device that belongs to my wife, but she shares - thanks love. The device I used was the PRS-300 in pink. Overall, there are tweaks that I would make but for my first time with an eBook reader, I was pleasantly surprised. Now for those of you who know me well, you know I have had my eye on the kindle since it came out, and now that the DX is here, I am almost at the tipping point to buy one.

Not being 100% sure about the eBook thing, my experience with the Sony has sold me. I forgot I was using e-ink and got lost in the books. I also brought along travel documents, some presentations to review and a couple of PDF documents I wanted to read. The positive is that the books read great! I am sold on that concept. The con to the Sony was that it confirmed my concern about the other media, meaning for anything other then the eBooks, it was tough.

Of course, this is why I have been waiting on the DX and it's larger screen size, so that also confirms that position as do the reviews I have been reading. Once the acquisition happens and I get my buyout, I think I may splurge on one finally.

If and when I cave and order it, I will post my impressions here.