amante igloo

Well after hearing that bad news about Grandpa, I had to get out of the house and do something constructive but creative... After all, Gramps was an engineer too... Stepping on the snow in the backyard, gave me the idea to carve out blocks and build an igloo in true eskimo style(or at least try to)... Traditionally as a kid, I would tend to make more snow caves -- sort of a miners approach which yielded a less structurally stable fort digging into the side of a giant snowpile. It got tricky towards the top to build an arched dome roof -- especially as it approached the 8ft tall mark.



It was a lot of work, but my sister Kathleen helped me out and it turned out pretty good!

Wachusett

Night ridin during a storm!

Each run got better, each lift line got shorter. Roco!

It has been a pretty good winter so far, looks like another few storms are on their way to make for another great weekend up north!

New blue line train

First ride this morning... From the first ride, it looks like an updated version of the older blue-line. About the same seating and layout as the 30 year old ones.. The seats instead of being plether are just hard plastic. They have installed many handles so that shorter folks can reach the upper bars when standing up for the ride. There is now the 'digital' next stop and automated announcements, good for the occasional rider but the daily rider knows the next 3 stops already. The windows are smaller, but I'm guessing they don't leak which is key. I'll be riding both until the older ones are phased out, so I'll pick up on some more minor details soon.

wifi & wireless internet on trains

Part of my decision to buy a place in Gloucester steps from the commuter rail, was the fact that I knew in a short amount of time internet connectivity on trains would quickly be a reality. If you can spend your time commuting, working, guess what that means? You can get more accomplished in a day, or your work-day is shorter -- I'll take either. More often I use the time to catch up on email, news, and collect my thoughts.

For a while(last five years for me), internet access on the train was reserved for business people who either had a company sponsored cell-network card, or could afford to blow 60$ a month on the data plan -- or tech saavy guys like myself that tether their cellphone and use it as a modem (no cable, Bluetooth of course) without paying a hefty premium (I use my cellphones basic data plan, 6$ per month).

Now it looks like the MBTA is trying a pilot out, and from the looks of this graph of coverage on my line, I'd say pretty promising for the future --

self sustainability

Recently, I've been baking my own bread and starting to enjoy the indoor winter garden. While not the best use of my time and talents, I find it a nice break from the computer screen... Something about putting bread on the table, making it with just some flour+yeast... a few hours later, you have warm fresh baked bread. Ever played Oregon trail? The best part of that early video-game? The hunt... Your stick figure would shoot a pixel across the screen and if you were lucky landed a large buffalo and fed your family for a week... The Aerogarden has been brain-dead simple to use, requiring human intervention basically every two weeks... Fresh Basil looks to be soon ready for the taking, mint, parsley, chives, cilantro & dill not too far behind....



Grow, or make a simple food you take for granted sometime... For some reason, it just tastes better eating the fruits of your labor. Bread + Salad!

YouTube on Sony Ericssons's k790a

Today YouTube announced a mobile version of YouTube which appears to be a Java midlet that works with Sony Ericssons's K800. I'm surprised they didn't officially throw k790a into the mix as well, as the phones are very closely related.

m.youtube.com/app

It looks like the unsigned Nokia version will work with the K790a: k790a YouTube App


The signed version should work for Nokia's (N73, N95, E65, 6110, 6120 officially): Nokia's YouTube App


I posted on the Esato board as I was trying to figure this out. Let me know if you find anything else about this topic --

Vote for 'Change'?

The next president of the US, won't be able to 'change' much...

He/She won't be able to lay a solid foundation for economic prosperity. Won't be able to make the world a peaceful place. Won't be able to guarantee you a job, your health, your home. Won't be able to reduce global warming, eradicate disease, feed the hungry.

These important action items actually fall on your hands. Choose ones closest to your heart, and work with others to focus on the problems that you care about the most.

If the next president can make it safer for us to travel to other countries, cooperate and do business with other nations in peace, they will most likely get my vote.

I'm interested in hearing about your top candidate, and why, please write to me....

Rice for the poor this holiday season

I came across this website/vocab game called FreeRice.com. The concept is pretty neat. You play an online game, get subjected to some advertisements, but instead of someone making money off of you, they buy rice with the profits.

So you get to increase your english vocabulary, and help feed the world... Seems like a better concept than most online games these days... I wonder if anyone is starting to play this on their Nintendo WII's web browsers? Sony Playstation 3's are already starting to work on curing diseases when they are not being used.....

See mom? not all games are about blowing things up....

Enough fun and games, lets get down to business.

I previously briefly wrote about the OpenSocial platform which is still in it's infancy, and while some developers have been hesitant to jump onto this bandwagon, here comes a whole herd of developers and business minds alike.

LinkedIn is taking it to the next level, allowing applications to be driven and directly tapped into folks business/professional networks. Initially, only Google's own Orkut allowed applications to be developed. Within the US, this didn't mean much as Orkut is not one of the current top social networks by any stretch. I expect LinkedIn's wave to be much larger, and hit home with a lot of the tech/business minds... So, with your network of professional contacts, how would you like to tap into the power of that network to provide more value?

Location Based Services

Here we are on earth: we live, work, travel where we choose. You are right here, right now, and maybe at this moment you need something or someone to help you accomplish what you are trying to do. You rub your magic lamp, out pops a genie, and grants you your wish.

Your lamp: it is actually your cellphone or computer...
Your genie: most likely works for Google, but possibly Yahoo, Microsoft? Altavista?? AskJeeves???
Your wish: if you are lucky is the top result of your search query....

Location Based Services, is a concept of providing you with relevant information based on where you currently are. Google recently released a beta update to their mobile Google Maps application which triangulates your approximate location using cell-phone tower information. Based on that information, you can easily imagine where they could be heading with this... Looking for the closest gas station? T-stop? Pizza shop? Done. Take it one more level further, the closest/cheapest gas-station, the train station with an incoming train any minute, the best slice of pizza around... This is where we are heading, and we will get there quicker than you can imagine...

The problems won't be technical, but more security and ethical in nature....

open social, developers love reusability.

Not so long ago, Facebook released a public API and developers went crazy, marketers drooled, anyone with any interest in reaching the youth demographic started to rethink about how they can bring their products through this channel. A new type of web application was now available, a plugin to your existing Facebook account.
The problem?
Facebook controls the language, their own proprietary/new syntax FBML, they tended to break deployed code with their security/feature improvements, they control which applications users can browse and see/add. Worst of all, your 'Facebook applications' code could not be re-used easily.

Open social, Google and the rest of the gang answer... Trys to learn from some of Facebooks lessons.. and of course, one up them whenvever possible. Its still a plugin model, but if you know HTML/Javascript, you know how it works out of the box. You want to deploy the same application on multiple social networks? Ok. You want to maintain one set of code for your application? Who doesn't. Time will tell where open social goes -- but my guess would be further than FB's API.... And if Microsoft didn't now have a stake of Facebook, FB would maybe consider supporting it sooner.

Developers buy some coffee beans and grab a few cases of your favorite caffeinated soda -- It's going to be a wild next few months.

Bostons Best

This post will be about Boston, and why I love my home city. Typing on my cellphone wont cut it, so for now i leave you with a picture of the eve!


Update: (Few months later...)
Well, it's a bit colder now... but being an avid snowboarding fiend sort of makes this cold weather make me feel like I am in my element.. Well I was born up in Maine. Boston in the winter is cold, you dress for it, and just deal with it -- The train gets you into the city quickly, I can hop out on the commuter rail to enjoy a nice evening at the beach in Gloucester... or if I'm working late, just hop over a few stops within Boston. Driving in, I guess is a different story... I've done it once, and that was enough to not do it again... On the train, the time is yours to read, think, write, or just zone out to some of your favorite music. Not to mention the environmental impact and cost of commuting by car.... Once you are in town, getting around is quick. Being frugal, Taxi/Limo are not usually the norm. Walking preferred, but sometimes wind up using my monthly T pass to get around a bit further quickly... Coffee, get your fresh beans at your favorite shop. Restaurants, I have a good one for each day of the week, or even month to try out... I bring in left-overs whenever possible, but it allows for the occasional lunchtime splurge (hey, after-all mantinee 's are cheaper than primetime). Fridays vegetable market deals, Northends Ernesto pizza, Chinatown's Pho Pasteur's noodle soup, West Ends Vivo Burritos, Downtowns Al's subs, Artu's of Charles St's prosciutto mozzarella, Scollay's squares Beacon Hill elegance -- Ok, I guess I can go on about food for a while... Amante amare, no?

I think I save the rest of the city's great characteristics for a future post, I'm now feeling pretty hungry...

Octoberfest

GSM unlocked and unbranded

Luckily, T-mobile gave me the unlock code to my first GSM phone. I had to enter a special code that they emailed me, and enter a password and that was it. T-Mobile I think is one of the few carriers in the US that allows this(They want you to use your T-Mobile phone overseas too on their networks there). My t68i was a great phone, but it actually lacked one of the frequencies used by North America, especially in rural areas.. Worked fine in the city... I also am a Cingular, Pay as you go customer... I just need to pop a different SIM card in, and I'm on Cingulars network. I have found this handy in a few dead spots up in the mountains.

My k790a unlocking was a bit trickier. I really got hooked on Sony Ericsson's phones, they are loaded with really useful features.. This one has a 3 megapixel camera and loads of other features. One problem, this phone was only available in Canada, and it was locked to a canadian carrier. So I bought it off ebay, locked, it was a few hundred dollars cheaper than the unlocked version.

Then the fun begins, I still had my t68i but one of the buttons started to act up.. I got a new Blackberry Pearl from T-mobile, wait a few weeks and unlock it, sell it on Ebay brand new, and it all comes out in the wash as an upgrade to the phone I actually wanted, not the one the carrier is pushing to sell.

Unlocking the k790a took a bit of research... If you are not technical, have one of your tech friends do it or visit any non-carrier gsm reseller and pay a guy to do it. The phone came with a USB cable, so that was key, I knew I could somehow use my computer to unlock it. I used Davinci Teams software to unlock it, and Mobile2Mobile.net's software to unbrand it.

Radiohead's - In Rainbows released.

As I download Radiohead's new album directly from their website at 335kb/second, I also write this post to promote their new album. This album isn't chopped up for sale for 1$ per song, this album isn't at the store for 20$ for the CD. This album is available online for the price of **.**.

One more time, **.**. That means, you determine the price. I bought the downloadable album for .01 pounds(they are a UK band) to try before buy, and of course if you use credit card, Visa want's their 'processing fee' of .45 pounds. So the whole digital album cost me about US 1$ dollar. I heard a lot of these songs back in June when they were on tour, but I wanted to download and hear the studio quality versions before splurging for the more expensive 3fer Downloads + CD + Vinyl set packaged together. There is no record industry middleman in this transaction, Band -> Fan, so my words of wisdom, buy a few sets and save them as a piece of history as one of the first albums to take the recording industry out of the picture, completely.. and deliver their music to fans to decide the true worth of the music.

Oh, my downloads done... time to check it out.

UPDATE:
After listening to the album about 5 times, it's definately a Radiohead classic that gets better with each listen. That infectious electric keyboard, and his unique voice that just grows on you like it did for classics like 'Karma Police' and 'Creep'. I like it better than Kid A, and I liked that album too. I'm throwing the commererative discbox (Record+CD) onto the wishlist....

got mail?

Remember back before the days of email, how in the morning you'd send out maybe a letter or a bill and raise the flag on the side of your mailbox? Then on your way home, you would check the box, grab anything inside and take it home to sort and read. Send in the morning, receive/respond in the evening...

2007, and email (electronic mail) has become such a part of our lives that we wonder how we may have gotten along without it. Then again, we probably used that novel invention the telephone a lot more frequently... But that point aside, I am planning to revert back towards the days of old, and send a few personal messages in the morning and once again read/send a few in the evening... What does this mean if you want an immediate quick response from me? You may just have to call or txt me. The major motivation for this? I want to figure out the best mix of frequency and amount of time spent communicating through email, and I'll start by minimizing it to just twice a day... Lets see how long it lasts, maybe I'll check my email just one more time before I post this!

Haymarket

10$ for fruits and vegs goes a long way here!

Early Adoption of beta software

Are you an early adopter? Do you like to beta test software before it is available to the general public? Do you have some accounts with beta software companies, with some invites to spare?

Well this new site, InviteShare is designed to help you put those spare invites to good use, and in return, get access to some of those beta sites that you don't have access to...

I sent a few GrandCentral invites, and in exchange I got an account with Joost!
I recommend using a spare email address though, even though they do take some measures to make sure your email address won't be harvested by spammers, it is always good to use your spam/spare email address for things like this....

Family vaca 07

Flickr album of photos

Folly beach near Charleston, South Carolina was very nice, and we enjoyed our time with the Platings over at Lake Hartwell, in northern Georgia.

Call Me

Go ahead and click on the Call Me button. Enter your name/number and give it a shot.

GrandCentral will call your phone and connect you to me for free. If I can't get to you right away, please leave a message and i'll call you back.

Stop

A quick job took a few days, rust thwarted Bram and I more than once... Brakes and rotors are looking good now on the Pathfinder.

=alias i-names and your digital identity

A few weeks back, I changed a few minor things on this site. You may have noticed =Amante across the top and around my blog, and wondered whats up with that equal sign in front of your name?

Well, that equal symbol followed by my nickname(lastname) is my registered 'i-name'. Whats an i-name? is it anything like a domain name or email address? I guess the best way to describe it is my 'universal login', the only problem is the universe hasn't fully adopted the standard yet. Someday it may be possible to use my =Amante i-name as a login at many different sites, like Yahoo Mail, Google Calendar, Ebay, commenting on blogs, or even my online banking account. The great part is, when I change my password for my i-name, I do it once and can still use all those web services with my new password. Over the years you may have heard about single-signon and identity management solutions, well to date, the i-name is one of the keys which may actually make this work in the future. People can contact you through your i-name http://xri.net/=amante/, but it is difficult to send SPAM, as you need to be authorized with either an i-name or through an email-confirm-click verification process. People may also be able to locate your website, blog ie: http://xri.net/=amante/(+blog), or resumehttp://xri.net/=amante/(+resume), or any other web-link you wish to provide by knowing your i-name as well.

So, in short, if you want to be a prospector and reserve your i-name now, go ahead and do so over at 2idi.com for example... but if you just want to get a feel for what it is all about, go ahead over to freexri.com and get yourself a free name within their community namespaces.

White mountains

We camped over at Russell Pond off of Tripoli Road near Lincoln, NH. On Saturday we did a 5 mile hike, up Coppermine trail on the back-side of Cannon mountain. It was a nice hike alongside a stream most of the way, and at the top were the Bridal Veil water falls and rock-slides. A great first hike of the season, wish the weather was a little bit nicer, but we had a great day anyways...

Looking forward to a few more trips this summer!

Happy 4th

Great views from a balcony near the prudential tower!
Day 1 of my 5 day weekend!!

i-phones

What I like about the i-phone, is what I like about Apple. They don't make the best products always, but they encourage the whole market to look at them for a minute, before they going back to creating their competing products....

Take i-tunes/ipod for example, mp3's were out for a long time before itunes/ipods came along... But back in they day, turning a CD into mp3 tracks was something that took the average computer most of a night to do... making playlists and setting up your mp3 player for a listen, took some advanced planning before you could enjoy... Then along comes the ipod, plug it in, and you have your music... (ok, almost that easy) But it encouraged the masses to move their audio from their cd-racks to digital files and competing companies to pay attention to the things they did right.

The i-phone is OK. But of course their model that worked for i-pod already may work again, incrementally make updates and people will buy the next new one when they are ready. If i-phone packed in all the features that they could have today, why would anyone upgrade next year? What i-phone points out to the masses is two things, data services are prime time with phones.. You no longer need to be tied in any way to your desk, home, or laptop to get the information you want. And secondly, multi-function devices that the whole world can use are here to stay. I'm talking about your device, which connects you to your people & calendar/music/photos/work... and that the rest of the world can use, thats right, they built it on GSM standards so you can travel from country to country and switch from carrier to carrier with the flick of a SIM card.. Sorry Verizon/Sprint, join the rest, stop being stubborn.

Honestly, my Sony Ericsson k790a is much nicer than current i-phone releases... but i'll save that discussion for another time.