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Well, the sidekick picture taking ability is limited. To say the least. The photos are low res and very small. But it's still kind of cool to have a camera with you where ever you go. The unit holds 32 pictures, but you don't really need to hold them because you can attach them to an email and send them to yourself. There doesn't seem to be a way to get uploading through a web form to work. So, of course, what we need is a script on the server side to watch a particular mailbox, and add any picture attachments arriving to the database so that I can include them in my posts. Shouldn't be too hard. Here's an article with the necessary MIME information about email attachments. Now I just have to make it work.
First post from the new device. The web browser is slick. Going out for a walk now. I want to see what sort of reception this thing gets.
Could I be any more excited? Today, 10/01/2002 (propitious date, no?) is the start of the next phase. This morning I braved the crazed geek hordes of NYC and secured a T-Mobile sidekick (aka danger hiptop.) This is the coolest device ever. And it's not even activated yet.
For me this is the biggest thing since this site (my first website) went live. That was the first step. Next is to have access to what we've built here (and to what everyone else has built everywhere else on the net) all the time. From anywhere. Unobtrusively. And it's actually happening.
I had a very clear vision one summer day on Cape Cod right before my freshman year of college. This vision informed me that a communications layer was being constructed on top of reality so that people seperated in space could still be together. All points would be cotangent. It wasn't until the spring of the next year that I realized this wasn't some mystical project (or not just a mystical project,) but that people were actually building this thing. Out of computers. That was 1989. It's been great fun watching it all come true.
Leo, a very nice young T-mobile salsman, was a bit bewildered. Apparently there was a line outside the door when he arrived this morning to open up. "We've been selling them like hotcakes!" He said that several times. Here's why: flat rate wireless data pricing. I pay $39/month (less than I'm paying now for voice) and I get unlimited data transfer. That includes email, the web, and AOL IM. As a regular phone the deal is not so good (only 200 on peak minutes a month - 1000 off peak.) And the T-mobile network isn't fully built out (and it's not tri-band, so if you're out of range you are out of luck.) But if you live in or near a city, and you're more interested in data than voice, this thing is a dream come true. I called several stores between 9:00 and 9:30 this morning and most were already sold out. Leo had a few left at his store and I convinced him to hold one for me. They were sold out by the time I left the store.
Unfortunately it might take up to 48 hours (!?!) to activate. So here I sit, sidekick in hand, waiting to enter the new world. This blog is certainly going to change (did I mention it is also a camera?) The goal is to connect the maximum number of people inside a shared information space with the smallest amount of friction possible. The sidekick + weblogs = the next step. Here we go...
The problem with a wireless mouse is that it can run out of charge. Skeptics maintain that even the possiblity of being locked out of your system while your mouse recharges defeats any gains from cutting the cord. I think I agree, but I still want a cordless mouse. So what if it came with a USB mousepad? The wireless mouse will work anywhere, but when used on the pad it will draw power (and recharge) through contact with that surface. This way you could never run out of power. The worst that could happen would be that you'd have to temporarilly use it on the pad if it lost all it's charge (that's assuming you didn't always use it on the pad anyway.)
On October 9th Larry Lessig will finally get his chance before the Supreme Court, as he argues Eldred v. Ashcroft. In light of the present geo-political situation you might be forgiven for not taking the issue of copyright term extension very seriously. But assuming we don't blow ourselves up, or wind up in a global police state, this issue will be very important. Wired has some good coverage. Business Week has a nice summary as well. The future is being decided (too bad this Supreme Court is doing it.)
Unbelievable optical illusion (via kottke.)
My stomach was giving me some problems this week, so I decided to cut out my copious coffee intake. Three days without java. Surprisingly easy.
Last chance to stop the war in Iraq?
Simple fix to increase TiBook airport range. Too good to be true?