Back from my trip to Colorado

Tekkeon auxiliary battery for cellphone

with my previus cellphone I had an extra battery, as well as a charger that would chare the phone and the extra battery at the same time. For my new phone I decided to try something doffereent. I bought the Tekkeon 1800 external battery and am glad that I did.
The Tekkeon is about as big as a fliphone (folded) and has a USB output port. I plug in the phone's USB charge 'n sync cable and the phone recharges. Supposedly it has enough juice for two full recharges. Today, because of a problem with my overnight charging, I am actually using the phone with the battery attached.
The tekkeon is rcharges using a mini USB port. this works well with either my computer of the charger of my Zivio headset (2x USB).

TSA (Government) efficiency

When I arrived at my destination on my current trip I realized that, as I had nt traveled for a while, I had forgotten my routine. Specifically, I had forgotten to take out my 311 bag at security. Of course, with usual TSA efficiency, they had just let it go through. That makes me feel real safe!

1st trip with my new Tom Bihn Checkpoint Flyer bag

A few weeks ago I splurged and bought myself a Checkpoint Flyer at Tom Bihn. This allows me to speed though airport security, without having to remove my computer from the briefcase. Two clips at the bottom allow the computer section in the middle to fold out and lie flat on the scanner belt. Just a few seconds less at each security transit, but ever so convenient.

I ordered accessories, including the Freudian Slip, and an organizer pouch. The latter clips to one of the rings that are scattered throughout the bag. Although it looks smaller, I am able to carry just as much as in my old Tumi. Only thing that I missed was another small clear organizer, to hold small change out of my pockets. Unfortunately, shipping is more than the organizer. I will have to wait for a trip to Seattle ;-)

Off to Kool Katz for the 912 Project meetup

Working on videos from yesterday's Uniting America Rally

Back from dentist, all fixed now :-)

Off to dentist - temp crown to be replaced with real one :-(

just back from eye exam, eyes still sore

This e-mail is intended solely for the person or entity to which it is addressed
and may contain confidential and/or privileged information. Any review, dissemination,
copying, printing or other use of this e-mail by persons or entities other than the
addressee is prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please contact
the sender immediately and delete the material from any computer.
To unsubscribe send an email to: Unsubscribe@hitachiconsulting.com
Hitachi Consulting Corporation, 2001 Bryan Street, Suite 3600, Dallas, Texas 75201

Expanding My Social Network Footprint

I have now added a number of tools to connect the diffferent social networks and this blog. For example, ping.fm allows me to make one posting which is replicated across Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and this blog, see the "ready for the weekend" posting below. TripIt provides details of my journeys, and Flightmemory shows the history of my flights.

TripIt is very useful beacuse I can forward the confirmation emails from airline, hotel and rental car to have all details in one place. Once consolidated, I generate a single update to my Outlook calendar, so I also have the information on my phone. Previously I had to add each mode of travel separately, which took quite a bit of time.

Ready for the weekend

Phone saves the day

Actually, the phone did help out quite a bit on my one day trip last week. I arrived at the airport and was waiting for my colleague to pick me up before the meeting. I got a frantic call that a serious error had been discovered in the document which we had prepared and had printed at Fedex Office. I was able to download the document, from my sent items in email, and make the necessary corrections in Office mobile. The corrected document was then emailed to a nearby Fedex where my colleague stopped by and had the offending page replaced in the books already prepared. All told this was adetour of less than 45 minutes, which was the extra time that we had before our meeting.
Samsung saves the day! Technically I could have done this on my Treo 750, but it was much slower and less reliable.

New Phone

I finally bit the bullet and replaced my aging Treo 750. I had been looking at the Treo Pro, but it is not cheap, $399 via Palm (unlocked and no contract) or $249 through third-party supplier (with 2 year extension).
I looked at other alternatives, but decided I wanted to stay with Windows Mobile, due to my investment in software. I found a device with very similar specifications to the Treo Pro, but free after rebate! This device is the Samsung Epix.

Up to now I have been pretty happy with this phone, except for one issue. My TomTom software does not seem to run, using either the built-in or an external GPS. During my reserach I had seen that there were some issues with TomTom, but there seemed to be resolutions. Unfortunately the resolutions did not work for me. However, I have done further reserach and found some other possibilities, so when I get time I will play around with that.
Until then, Google Maps is working, and while it is not turn by turn, it will be enough to get by temporarily.
Otherwise, everything seems to be working OK. I do have to watch my battery usgae, but that was the same on my Treo 750. And on the Internet, I have found tweaks and ideas that should help with the usage. Finally, I have also found a rechargeable external battery, that can be used to recharge the phone. I will probably get one of those, it has 2-3 times the capacity of the internal battery and is actuially quite small. A future post will let you know my experience with that gadget.