Mom wanted me to put some pictures up of the family. So here ya go mom.
Infant Corbin:
Corbin at Hospital:
Corbin's Hospital Visitors
More of Corbin's Hospital Visitors
Monday, May 29, 2006
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Old Job-The Big Move
I only have a few more days in my current role before I am off to start a new position on a new team within my same company. It is only a small physical move; I am moving one floor down. But it is going to be a pretty big move just the same.
I have been in my currnet position for over 6 years now. I know my job pretty darn well. Oh sure, their is TONS more I could learn right where I am. But I am comfortable in my current position, I know what I am doing and I am a "goto" guy for many who respect me. I am really going to miss the people I see and talk to and work with everyday! Jacquie and Jeff, I'll miss you guys. Charles and Kevin F too. I hope Kevin G will still eat lunch with me once in awhile. Kurt and Robert are great co-workers, Chad is super smart! Erica trained me-now she's the new boss. I'll miss Paul's crankyness, Pat's quiet humor and even Darius!
But I remind myself why I am leaving: More money. More direction. Opportunities to learn new things in an exciting group. A new manager who just might promote me. Leadership opportunities. Career development.
I am excited and nervous about the Big Move. Such is life. Change is inevitable. Change is good. It is also hard.
Come see me on the 3rd floor.
-Durk-
I have been in my currnet position for over 6 years now. I know my job pretty darn well. Oh sure, their is TONS more I could learn right where I am. But I am comfortable in my current position, I know what I am doing and I am a "goto" guy for many who respect me. I am really going to miss the people I see and talk to and work with everyday! Jacquie and Jeff, I'll miss you guys. Charles and Kevin F too. I hope Kevin G will still eat lunch with me once in awhile. Kurt and Robert are great co-workers, Chad is super smart! Erica trained me-now she's the new boss. I'll miss Paul's crankyness, Pat's quiet humor and even Darius!
But I remind myself why I am leaving: More money. More direction. Opportunities to learn new things in an exciting group. A new manager who just might promote me. Leadership opportunities. Career development.
I am excited and nervous about the Big Move. Such is life. Change is inevitable. Change is good. It is also hard.
Come see me on the 3rd floor.
-Durk-
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Sending Pics from My Phone and Teaching eBay or Why I signed up for Myspace.com (X3), Spaces.msn.com, Photobucket.com, Hotmail.com & Yahoo.com
Even though I have had my own website in one form or another for years now, I took the blogspot.com plunge about a month ago with the purpose of having an online diary. I told myself I'd journal more. I'd write more. I'd be funny more. For all practical purposes I have, pretty darn cool (I AM VERY FUNNY NOW!). The next step is to get a real forum thread going.
Since I first signed up with blogspot.com I have also signed up with:
- Myspace.com - a hip and happening, ever-growing and mostly for-the-young-people. A place where anyone can get a website and have a web-presence. No-name bands, politicians, every student, and really, anyone who is anyone has an account with these guys! It is almost creepy how their web presence has become a standard of sorts. So of course I have 2 or 3 accounts with these guys. We'll get into that later.
- Spaces.msn.com - This is klinda a cross between Blogspot.com and Myspace.com. This is a Blog-type of site, but with a few extras, you can upload pics, have lists of links, etc. I was looking for a place to merely store pics to use with eBay. It did not meet my needs, but since it is Microsoft you can link XBOX stuff, have Windows Media Player play lists, and pretty much help Bill Gates take over the world.
- Hotmail.com - Hey everyone needs to have a free email account-so you don't use your work email! And with hotmail I can use the MSN email program on my pocket pc phone-so I can send pics and such. This was a new account to replace my old account that I can't remember the password of...nice...more about that later.
- Yahoo.com - OK, this I have had. You can use your Yahoo ID to sign in to MSN, but not use it for MSN's Pocket PC Phone email account...Why? Well, anyway, you can't.
- Photobucket.com - This is a gem of a site, I can't believe I didn't know about this before! Basically a FREE site that allows you to VERY EASILY upload pictures from your hard drive and then store them in a photo album and in a place where they can be accessed from many other programs like eBay and Blogspot! It even let's you do a filmstrip-type of display (below) where you can take several pictures and have them scroll by! Or in a "photo stamp" that you see under "links" on the main page of my Blog. SWEET!
All of this form-filing and login & password recording originated from a couple of different goals.
First, I wanted to send pics from my totally awesome Sprint PC phone. The phone comes with Pocket MSN-a program which in addition to allowing you to access MSN from the phone and not a website (you can check news, weather and IM chat), it also allows you to check email-again not from a browser, but from a program! It is fast, simple and works with Pocket Outlook! SUPER SWEET! MSN (Microsoft Network) is just one way that Microsoft is taking over the world; it is their Internet entertainment/web presence. And I discovered that I can login to MSN using my very old Yahoo.com login and password. You haven't lived until you have played online pool with Yahoo.games.com! But what I can't do is login to MSN mail with my Yahoo login/pass. For that you have to have a Hotmail account. WHICH I DO! So I use it...password does not work...No problem, just have the password sent to...email address, well that isn’t gonna work now is it? I CAN'T ACCESS EMAIL BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW MY OWN PASSWORD. OK, so I can answer my secret question. What is my favorite pet's name? WHAT? Well I don't know, Mr. Pibb was my first pet, lower case upper case periods and spaces...no I must not have used that...Well then there is Roman Greco...Roman or Greco? No, well I just got Dash, the mini wiener dog...nope that does not work either. Now my password isn’t just forgotten it is fried, as in too many attempts. So now what? Well after click after click after click and after getting an email response that I can have my password sent to an alternate address THAT I HAD TO SET UP TO BEGIN WITH, and finally getting NOWHERE I throw my hands up in the air and just sign up for a new account! Heck it's free, takes just a couple of minutes. FINE. But I really liked my old name and it matches my XBOX360 screen name...so NOW what? All well.
Second, I wanted to store pictures online so I could access them via HTML from somewhere else. I did not merely want a photo album and I didn't want to use a web server, real honest-to-goodness web space that I am paying for (which is what I do for MY auctions)! I have been showing a friend how to get all setup on eBay. One of the very cool things about eBay is that you can use HTML to create auctions. The biggest advantage: You can show folks more pics without having to pay extra. Disadvantage: You have to "store" your pics somewhere else; you have to have your pics somewhere where the HTML can pull them from-NOT ON EBAY! The answer came in a passing conversation about Myspace and Ebay: Photobucket.com Photobucket is a free site where you can sign up in seconds and start uploading pics immediately and VERY EASILY! There is a form with a browse button, you find the pic on your local drive, you can give it a title, and whalla! STORED PICS! Not too sure where they actually are within this Photobucket website? No prob! Click a couple of buttons and THEY PROVIDE THE URL FOR YOU! Want to get all fancy? Click a couple more buttons and it gives you the code and url in a couple of different formats (Flash or DHTML) to post in a filmstrip format or a "stamp" format (see above bullet for examples). Still not good enough? IT ALSO DOES VIDEO! SA-WEET! All of that is free, there is other cool stuff that you can pay for, but the freebies are pretty powerful stuff. I had been trying to show my HTML-illiterate friend how to upload pics from his PC to his cable companies web space...not real easy. Photobucket takes away ALL of the headaches!
I know, I know, there are a whole lot of cool websites out there! I know this! I used to collect all kinds of addresses. And now it seems I have started up again! I welcome YOUR favorites!
-Durk-
Friday, April 21, 2006
New Job
Mr. B, the manager of the Security group, had approached me quite awhile ago about a job in his group. He asked if I had experience with C+ and some other computing languages. I told him that I did not have the programming language skills he was looking for. He asked me to be on the lookout for a qualified person and I asked him to keep me in mind for any future position within his group. Mr. B approached me on 5-20-06, he walked into my cube and told me to write a number down. At first I thought it was a phone number, but he clarified that it was a job requisition number, that it was for his group and that I'd better hurry because it ended THAT DAY! So of course I went to apply for the job right then and there-as fast as I could! I could not find the job requisition! So I immediately emailed Mr. B. my resume and told him that I'd love a chance to work for him.
In the mean time I phoned a friend and he suggested that I try to track down the recruiter. So I began to call around and so did he. I found a name and my friend found out more details: Only 14 applicants, all external; I'd be the only internal applicant, which could really give me an edge! So I emailed the recruiter, stating that the hiring manager had asked me to apply and asked if she would add me to the list of applicants. Mr. B called me and tried to help me look up the job, even though the job was still open it was not available to for additional applicants. So he IMed the recruiter and asked if I could be put on the list. She said that normally I couldn't but that she would add me. YES! I would at least get an interview with 14 external employees and me-the internal employee!! And then Mr. B asked me: "Are you interested?" OF COURSE! And then asked me what my current pay was. I told him and then he did the totally unexpected: Asked me to meet him at the elevators for a talk! We went to the picnic lunch area, he bought me a pop and we sat and he interviewed me! More like explaining the details of the job-telling me what I'd be doing! Again he asked if I was interested, again I said yes. "How does a 10-15% raise sound?" I said that is sounded awesome! And he said that he'd have the recruiter write an offer! AWESOME. He even showed me the new area where they would be moving to-showed me about where I would be sitting in the group!! AWESOME!
The next day I approached one of the people on Mr. B’s team, mentioned that I had talked with their manager the previous day and they explained how Mr B had offered me a job! It had really happened!
A few days later, even before I a formal offer, I sat down with a couple of teammates under Mr. B and they explained what I ‘d be doing on the new team! WOW.
Here it is a couple of weeks later...I have a verbal offer and am merely waiting for the written offer and then I get to haggle about the actual raise! SWEET!
-Durk-
In the mean time I phoned a friend and he suggested that I try to track down the recruiter. So I began to call around and so did he. I found a name and my friend found out more details: Only 14 applicants, all external; I'd be the only internal applicant, which could really give me an edge! So I emailed the recruiter, stating that the hiring manager had asked me to apply and asked if she would add me to the list of applicants. Mr. B called me and tried to help me look up the job, even though the job was still open it was not available to for additional applicants. So he IMed the recruiter and asked if I could be put on the list. She said that normally I couldn't but that she would add me. YES! I would at least get an interview with 14 external employees and me-the internal employee!! And then Mr. B asked me: "Are you interested?" OF COURSE! And then asked me what my current pay was. I told him and then he did the totally unexpected: Asked me to meet him at the elevators for a talk! We went to the picnic lunch area, he bought me a pop and we sat and he interviewed me! More like explaining the details of the job-telling me what I'd be doing! Again he asked if I was interested, again I said yes. "How does a 10-15% raise sound?" I said that is sounded awesome! And he said that he'd have the recruiter write an offer! AWESOME. He even showed me the new area where they would be moving to-showed me about where I would be sitting in the group!! AWESOME!
The next day I approached one of the people on Mr. B’s team, mentioned that I had talked with their manager the previous day and they explained how Mr B had offered me a job! It had really happened!
A few days later, even before I a formal offer, I sat down with a couple of teammates under Mr. B and they explained what I ‘d be doing on the new team! WOW.
Here it is a couple of weeks later...I have a verbal offer and am merely waiting for the written offer and then I get to haggle about the actual raise! SWEET!
-Durk-
Monday, April 17, 2006
Never Remembering a Time when You Didn't have a Relationship with God
My newest baby, boy #4, Corbin Riley, was baptized on Easter Sunday. Many people have inquired about our choice to baptize as opposed to the more Protestant tradition of infant baptism. So here is my formal explanation.
I belong to the Nazarene denomination. We are similar to the Wesleyan Methodist (John Wesley), the Free Methodist, Church of God (Holiness) and other holiness denominations. When the Nazarene church was formed it combined with several other denominations-all having one thing in common, a desire to stress holiness and entire sanctification. So there were churches from the Baptist, Methodist, etc, etc traditions. Because of the many diverse backgrounds, the newly forming denomination decided to allow many of the different tradition's ceremonies and liturgies to be allowed. So, for instance, Baptism: the Nazarene's allow for immersion, sprinkling, anointing, and well, as long as you get wet, you're considered baptized. And with infants you can opt for a traditional dedication or infant baptism.
The whole Infant Baptism vs. Dedication "debate" can be boiled down to a Catholic vs. Protestant issue. Baptism is an outward sign of an inward grace. The outward sign involves getting wet! You can read and study John the Baptist about the origins of the practice, but John baptized Jesus-at Jesus' request. The inward grace, or the thing that happens on the "inside" is the change that takes place in one's heart, soul & mind. The mind has been transformed, the soul has been cleansed, and the heart is renewed. Spiritually speaking one has been forgiven of their sins, restored to state where they can relate to God and in short: they are saved.
That's all fine and dandy for those that make those choices. But what about little babies that can't make those choices? Are they saved too? Well, herein lies the different debates (as it relates to the subject at hand...I am realizing that there are MANY theological tangents that I could go on). For the Catholics this issue came to a head: children were dying at very young ages and they wanted some sort of assurance that their child, would be saved from the fiery pit of hell. So the priest baptized the child, thus securing the child's salvation-forever. It is the forever part that I can't live with-at some point the person has to become accountable for their own actions and accountable for responding to God's call for a relationship.
Most protestants throw this idea out and hold to a magical, subjective "age of accountability", where a child is not responsible for their actions up to some age where they then become accountable.
Other protestants hold to a Calvinistic (John Calvin) or a predestination view: That some are chosen and others are not, male, female, young, old, etc. Choice is pretty much thrown out the window with the whole age thing. God hates some and rejects them and loves others and predetermines that they will be saved. They have my attention up until "God hates some..." Not to mention that this throws out man's responsibility to respond to God.
So where do I stand? So which camp am I in? Well, as usual the Nazarene view is a mixed one. I suppose we hold to the "age of accountability" where there is this subjective age where a person becomes accountable for their actions. But Wesleyans also believe in what is called prevenient grace, or the grace that goes before. That grace is bestowed on all of mankind and this grace is constantly leading the person towards Christ. Wesleyans would say that this grace is what allows man in his sinful state to be able to respond to the salvation message. For babies who cannot respond this grace covers them. They are covered by prevenient grace. They are not responsible for their sinful state. Until they are, and that comes with age and awareness.
So tell me again what this has to do with infant baptism? Yeah, I know, I am getting there.
Kaleb & Keegan, my identical twin boys, were dedicated. In the dedication ceremony children are presented before the church where the parents promise to raise the child in the ways of Christ and in accordance to the Word of God, the Bible. The congregation also promises to help raise the child. It takes a community right? Babies are introduced to the congregation and the parents get a neat certificate, that is stored away with all of the other special memories. The parents, pastor and church dedicate the child to God. Kaleb & Keegan have also dedicated their lives to God and have entered into a saving relationship with Christ. They also chose, on their own, to be baptized. They were dunked (immersed). Their feet flew up in the air! It was cute and cool and special all at the same time.
For most protestants (again not the Calvinist and not most Catholics), there is an expectation of a salvation event, a specific point in time where someone marks their conversion, one day they were walking away from God and they were not saved and then next they were walking with God and were saved. Believe me there are MANY people out there whose lives have been changed and a prayer or a sermon or a religious experience is the event that they point to where they met the Living Creator who totally transformed their life. They are a new person.
Corbin Riley and his bigger 2 year-old brother, Calvin Wesley (yes, CALVIN WESLEY) were baptised as infants. It is my hope that they will never know a time when they did not think of themselves as experiencing and understanding the saving love of Christ. I hope they never think of themselves as outsiders, as unsaved. Instead of having to point to a time when they were saved, I would hope that there comes a time where the choice is to “stay in” or walk away from it all. And I hope that they never point to a time when they walked away, but rather continually make the choice to advance in their walk with Christ.
In infant baptism there is a similar dedication. But, to me, there are much deeper and intentional messages. I am making a covenant with God that I will raise my child in an environment where they can experience God's saving love and where they can learn what it is to be a follower or Christ. My family and church family make the same pledge. And for me it is also a stand against the Evil One, it is a proclamation to Satan: You cannot have this child. You cannot take this child. This child is Christ’s until the day he chooses otherwise.
Again, it is my hope that Corbin and Calvin will never know a time when they weren’t being saved. I hope that they will always be able to look back and see the Hand of God in their lives and that their lives are constantly being transformed, cleansed and renewed.
They are still free to choose. They can reject God. They can walk away. They can come back. They can commit their lives to Christ and they can re-commit their lives to Christ. And if the day comes that they deem a milestone in their life, a day where they can look back upon and say “That is the day my life changed!” Well, then I hope that they consider the ceremonial proclamation of such a change, the outward sign of the inward grace: Adult baptism.
-Durk-
I belong to the Nazarene denomination. We are similar to the Wesleyan Methodist (John Wesley), the Free Methodist, Church of God (Holiness) and other holiness denominations. When the Nazarene church was formed it combined with several other denominations-all having one thing in common, a desire to stress holiness and entire sanctification. So there were churches from the Baptist, Methodist, etc, etc traditions. Because of the many diverse backgrounds, the newly forming denomination decided to allow many of the different tradition's ceremonies and liturgies to be allowed. So, for instance, Baptism: the Nazarene's allow for immersion, sprinkling, anointing, and well, as long as you get wet, you're considered baptized. And with infants you can opt for a traditional dedication or infant baptism.
The whole Infant Baptism vs. Dedication "debate" can be boiled down to a Catholic vs. Protestant issue. Baptism is an outward sign of an inward grace. The outward sign involves getting wet! You can read and study John the Baptist about the origins of the practice, but John baptized Jesus-at Jesus' request. The inward grace, or the thing that happens on the "inside" is the change that takes place in one's heart, soul & mind. The mind has been transformed, the soul has been cleansed, and the heart is renewed. Spiritually speaking one has been forgiven of their sins, restored to state where they can relate to God and in short: they are saved.
That's all fine and dandy for those that make those choices. But what about little babies that can't make those choices? Are they saved too? Well, herein lies the different debates (as it relates to the subject at hand...I am realizing that there are MANY theological tangents that I could go on). For the Catholics this issue came to a head: children were dying at very young ages and they wanted some sort of assurance that their child, would be saved from the fiery pit of hell. So the priest baptized the child, thus securing the child's salvation-forever. It is the forever part that I can't live with-at some point the person has to become accountable for their own actions and accountable for responding to God's call for a relationship.
Most protestants throw this idea out and hold to a magical, subjective "age of accountability", where a child is not responsible for their actions up to some age where they then become accountable.
Other protestants hold to a Calvinistic (John Calvin) or a predestination view: That some are chosen and others are not, male, female, young, old, etc. Choice is pretty much thrown out the window with the whole age thing. God hates some and rejects them and loves others and predetermines that they will be saved. They have my attention up until "God hates some..." Not to mention that this throws out man's responsibility to respond to God.
So where do I stand? So which camp am I in? Well, as usual the Nazarene view is a mixed one. I suppose we hold to the "age of accountability" where there is this subjective age where a person becomes accountable for their actions. But Wesleyans also believe in what is called prevenient grace, or the grace that goes before. That grace is bestowed on all of mankind and this grace is constantly leading the person towards Christ. Wesleyans would say that this grace is what allows man in his sinful state to be able to respond to the salvation message. For babies who cannot respond this grace covers them. They are covered by prevenient grace. They are not responsible for their sinful state. Until they are, and that comes with age and awareness.
So tell me again what this has to do with infant baptism? Yeah, I know, I am getting there.
Kaleb & Keegan, my identical twin boys, were dedicated. In the dedication ceremony children are presented before the church where the parents promise to raise the child in the ways of Christ and in accordance to the Word of God, the Bible. The congregation also promises to help raise the child. It takes a community right? Babies are introduced to the congregation and the parents get a neat certificate, that is stored away with all of the other special memories. The parents, pastor and church dedicate the child to God. Kaleb & Keegan have also dedicated their lives to God and have entered into a saving relationship with Christ. They also chose, on their own, to be baptized. They were dunked (immersed). Their feet flew up in the air! It was cute and cool and special all at the same time.
For most protestants (again not the Calvinist and not most Catholics), there is an expectation of a salvation event, a specific point in time where someone marks their conversion, one day they were walking away from God and they were not saved and then next they were walking with God and were saved. Believe me there are MANY people out there whose lives have been changed and a prayer or a sermon or a religious experience is the event that they point to where they met the Living Creator who totally transformed their life. They are a new person.
Corbin Riley and his bigger 2 year-old brother, Calvin Wesley (yes, CALVIN WESLEY) were baptised as infants. It is my hope that they will never know a time when they did not think of themselves as experiencing and understanding the saving love of Christ. I hope they never think of themselves as outsiders, as unsaved. Instead of having to point to a time when they were saved, I would hope that there comes a time where the choice is to “stay in” or walk away from it all. And I hope that they never point to a time when they walked away, but rather continually make the choice to advance in their walk with Christ.
In infant baptism there is a similar dedication. But, to me, there are much deeper and intentional messages. I am making a covenant with God that I will raise my child in an environment where they can experience God's saving love and where they can learn what it is to be a follower or Christ. My family and church family make the same pledge. And for me it is also a stand against the Evil One, it is a proclamation to Satan: You cannot have this child. You cannot take this child. This child is Christ’s until the day he chooses otherwise.
Again, it is my hope that Corbin and Calvin will never know a time when they weren’t being saved. I hope that they will always be able to look back and see the Hand of God in their lives and that their lives are constantly being transformed, cleansed and renewed.
They are still free to choose. They can reject God. They can walk away. They can come back. They can commit their lives to Christ and they can re-commit their lives to Christ. And if the day comes that they deem a milestone in their life, a day where they can look back upon and say “That is the day my life changed!” Well, then I hope that they consider the ceremonial proclamation of such a change, the outward sign of the inward grace: Adult baptism.
-Durk-
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
My First Review: Sprint's Pocket PC Phone, the PPC6700
I have this really cool pocket PC phone. It makes me feel just a little bit cooler than everyone else. But not superior, technology always has ways of humbling me. (see previous post)
I have been an owner of a HP Pocket PC for a few years now. I LOVE THEM. They really are a mini PC. I have also been an owner of a Sprint PCS Phone (who doesn't have cell phones these days-I do not even have a home phone anymore). They both broke this last fall. I started to miss appointments and have to actually look up phone numbers manually! (GASP) I finally conned my wife into letting me purchase the newly released Sprint Pocket PC Phone, the PPC6700.
The Good
This phone has EVERYTHING! Pocket PC, calculator, address book, phone with call history and even can take notes on a per-call basis, camera with flash and fun frames, video camera, side slide out QWERTY keyboard that lights up, mini SD card slot (with my 1 GB card), Bluetooth, WiFi, email, text messaging, Windows Mobile 5.0, tons of programs (Pocket Word, Excel, PowerPoint), games, Windows Media Player, Pocket MSN, and my favorite: Instant Internet access (about 3.5 times faster than 56k diall up) wherever there is Sprint Vision or WiFi (it has excellent WiFi detection capability). And finally one very cool feature-it can act as a wireless modem for my laptop! SWEET!
The Bad
I am on my 4th PPC6700 handset. I purchased the $600 phone and received $200 in rebates. I bought it on a Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. I returned it on Saturday where they replaced it for a model that was actually able to make a call. Phone #2 seemed to lose it's grip on the built-in stylus. I could not hear the phone ring in its case and I couldn't figure out how to get the phone to vibrate and ring at the same time for quite awhile. I am not even positive that the early handsets had that feature, but we'll chalk that up to user error. I finally figured it out on my current handset, that I received as a replacement towards the end of January-the volume button popped off of my previous one. Phone #3 had to be replaced with phone #2 the same day for some reason-I don't remember now. A couple of days later Sprint replaced phone #2 with phone #4. I will give Sprint props: I had absolutely no roblems getting a replacement handset; I am on the replacement program. The ppc6700 does not have the Sprint's Picture Vision feature, so you have to send pics from an Internet mail account. I can reply to pics my wife sends me, I just have to do it while viewing the pic in Sprint's picture mail website. Sprint's Power Vision is required to use the wireless vision Internet connection. If you don't have it-say because it was told to you that you were getting it but it never really got provisioned-well then you are charged about $300 for a few hours of surfing. then you have to call to get it corrected and get a refund. All of which happened to me with just a little pain, again Sprint fixed the prob in the end, after I got transfereed to the right person. And after their research. After much battery drainage...
The Ugly
I love my phone. I hate the standard case that it comes with. I have dropped the phone a couple of times and have banged up the corners of the handset. This makes it look really grinded on the corners, but the design protects the rest of the phone's important parts like the camera and keyboard. I also had a screen protector on it but had to remove it when the screen stopped responding to touch. I removed the protector and the problem was solved. But I saw my first teeny, tiny scratch on the screen just a few days ago.
Still-I Can't Live without This Phone
I can't live without this phone. OK, that's a lie. But I simply LOVE this phone. I don't want to live without it! Despite the bad and the ugly. It seems to be the best pocket PC Phone edition on the market right now. I can sync all of outlook via the PCS wireless feature. I can Google, Yahoo, eBay, game, email, make calls from my contacts, WiFi, talk hands-free with the speaker or my Bluetooth headset, take pics, record voice, stay informed with the latest news, weather, movie listings, listen to music, etc, etc, etc.
Odds And Ends
The phone did not come with Advantgo. It can be installed for free. The thought must be that one can get info off of the Internet in real-time rather than from a sync. I still like that program and now I can sync wirelessly (very cool). A few other free downloads includes Microsoft Active Sync, Pocket Money (which can only be used with the desktop version-that you have to pay for), and a few other Microsoft Pocket PC software, but be careful, the new Windows Mobile 5.0 is not backward compatible with all older software. Some cool software that I bought: Argentum (much like StarCraft) and I have Laridian's New Living Translation PPC Bible-very cool.
I bought an $80 Bluetooth headset, again, very cool. I have a Motorola model, I would like for it to be louder, but my old vehicle died and I have a nice, quiet mini-van, problem seems to be much better. I am still getting used to wireless-headset ettiquet...I mean you look like you are having a conversation with yourself.
I bought a 1GB mini-SD card. You almost have to, there is a lot of memory, but it fills up quickly. The mini-SD card (about $70-Best Buy) came with a standard-sized SD card adapter-the mini SD just slips into the SD Card adapter and then that can be slid into my digital camcorder or my digital camera to take still shots or any other device that takes standard SD cards. I also bought a neat little flash drive adapter ($10-Comp USA) that takes the SD Card (that has my 1GB mini SD Card) and then allows it to plug into a USB port! VERY SLICK. So what I have had to do a time or two was use my phone to download from the Internet, save on my mini SD card, take the mini SD card and slide it into the SD card adapter and then slide that into the USB flash drive adapter and then plug it into my PC's USB port and WALLA! I can view or transfer the files that I just downloaded from the Internet!
I also purchased a car plug adapter and a regular house wall plug adapter that accepts a USB cable; the phone comes with a USB to mini USB cable. So I can use the adapters to charge from a car or from a wall. The phone will chagre from any powered USB port.
Sprint's PPC6700 Pocket PC phone still has some kinks to work out. However, I find that it is the best PPC Phone on the market. Sprint's previous PPC6601 does not have WiFi and instant Internet access just about anywhwere is just plain unbeatable. The productivity tools and entertainment options are endless. But please, find a different case. Buy some accessories. And of course, treat it well.
Two thumbs up and 8 1/2 stars out of 10!
-Durk-
FOLLOW UP
OK, we're a few months out. I still am on phone #4. It is still as cool as ever! I did upgrade the software on the handset. I wasn't paying attention and that upgrade erased EVERYTHING! No big worries, I synced up and everything was OK. The newest ActiveSync does not play well with firewalls, but I perservered and figured it out. The upgrade included a voice dial feature, VERY COOL. You press a button, say the name of the person you wish to call and it automatically dials! I've beat Argentum like 10 times. I've posted eBay auctions with my phone. The phone is still in one piece. There are no major scratches on the phone. It still loses the stylus. I still love it!
I have been an owner of a HP Pocket PC for a few years now. I LOVE THEM. They really are a mini PC. I have also been an owner of a Sprint PCS Phone (who doesn't have cell phones these days-I do not even have a home phone anymore). They both broke this last fall. I started to miss appointments and have to actually look up phone numbers manually! (GASP) I finally conned my wife into letting me purchase the newly released Sprint Pocket PC Phone, the PPC6700.
The Good
This phone has EVERYTHING! Pocket PC, calculator, address book, phone with call history and even can take notes on a per-call basis, camera with flash and fun frames, video camera, side slide out QWERTY keyboard that lights up, mini SD card slot (with my 1 GB card), Bluetooth, WiFi, email, text messaging, Windows Mobile 5.0, tons of programs (Pocket Word, Excel, PowerPoint), games, Windows Media Player, Pocket MSN, and my favorite: Instant Internet access (about 3.5 times faster than 56k diall up) wherever there is Sprint Vision or WiFi (it has excellent WiFi detection capability). And finally one very cool feature-it can act as a wireless modem for my laptop! SWEET!
The Bad
I am on my 4th PPC6700 handset. I purchased the $600 phone and received $200 in rebates. I bought it on a Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. I returned it on Saturday where they replaced it for a model that was actually able to make a call. Phone #2 seemed to lose it's grip on the built-in stylus. I could not hear the phone ring in its case and I couldn't figure out how to get the phone to vibrate and ring at the same time for quite awhile. I am not even positive that the early handsets had that feature, but we'll chalk that up to user error. I finally figured it out on my current handset, that I received as a replacement towards the end of January-the volume button popped off of my previous one. Phone #3 had to be replaced with phone #2 the same day for some reason-I don't remember now. A couple of days later Sprint replaced phone #2 with phone #4. I will give Sprint props: I had absolutely no roblems getting a replacement handset; I am on the replacement program. The ppc6700 does not have the Sprint's Picture Vision feature, so you have to send pics from an Internet mail account. I can reply to pics my wife sends me, I just have to do it while viewing the pic in Sprint's picture mail website. Sprint's Power Vision is required to use the wireless vision Internet connection. If you don't have it-say because it was told to you that you were getting it but it never really got provisioned-well then you are charged about $300 for a few hours of surfing. then you have to call to get it corrected and get a refund. All of which happened to me with just a little pain, again Sprint fixed the prob in the end, after I got transfereed to the right person. And after their research. After much battery drainage...
The Ugly
I love my phone. I hate the standard case that it comes with. I have dropped the phone a couple of times and have banged up the corners of the handset. This makes it look really grinded on the corners, but the design protects the rest of the phone's important parts like the camera and keyboard. I also had a screen protector on it but had to remove it when the screen stopped responding to touch. I removed the protector and the problem was solved. But I saw my first teeny, tiny scratch on the screen just a few days ago.
Still-I Can't Live without This Phone
I can't live without this phone. OK, that's a lie. But I simply LOVE this phone. I don't want to live without it! Despite the bad and the ugly. It seems to be the best pocket PC Phone edition on the market right now. I can sync all of outlook via the PCS wireless feature. I can Google, Yahoo, eBay, game, email, make calls from my contacts, WiFi, talk hands-free with the speaker or my Bluetooth headset, take pics, record voice, stay informed with the latest news, weather, movie listings, listen to music, etc, etc, etc.
Odds And Ends
The phone did not come with Advantgo. It can be installed for free. The thought must be that one can get info off of the Internet in real-time rather than from a sync. I still like that program and now I can sync wirelessly (very cool). A few other free downloads includes Microsoft Active Sync, Pocket Money (which can only be used with the desktop version-that you have to pay for), and a few other Microsoft Pocket PC software, but be careful, the new Windows Mobile 5.0 is not backward compatible with all older software. Some cool software that I bought: Argentum (much like StarCraft) and I have Laridian's New Living Translation PPC Bible-very cool.
I bought an $80 Bluetooth headset, again, very cool. I have a Motorola model, I would like for it to be louder, but my old vehicle died and I have a nice, quiet mini-van, problem seems to be much better. I am still getting used to wireless-headset ettiquet...I mean you look like you are having a conversation with yourself.
I bought a 1GB mini-SD card. You almost have to, there is a lot of memory, but it fills up quickly. The mini-SD card (about $70-Best Buy) came with a standard-sized SD card adapter-the mini SD just slips into the SD Card adapter and then that can be slid into my digital camcorder or my digital camera to take still shots or any other device that takes standard SD cards. I also bought a neat little flash drive adapter ($10-Comp USA) that takes the SD Card (that has my 1GB mini SD Card) and then allows it to plug into a USB port! VERY SLICK. So what I have had to do a time or two was use my phone to download from the Internet, save on my mini SD card, take the mini SD card and slide it into the SD card adapter and then slide that into the USB flash drive adapter and then plug it into my PC's USB port and WALLA! I can view or transfer the files that I just downloaded from the Internet!
I also purchased a car plug adapter and a regular house wall plug adapter that accepts a USB cable; the phone comes with a USB to mini USB cable. So I can use the adapters to charge from a car or from a wall. The phone will chagre from any powered USB port.
Sprint's PPC6700 Pocket PC phone still has some kinks to work out. However, I find that it is the best PPC Phone on the market. Sprint's previous PPC6601 does not have WiFi and instant Internet access just about anywhwere is just plain unbeatable. The productivity tools and entertainment options are endless. But please, find a different case. Buy some accessories. And of course, treat it well.
Two thumbs up and 8 1/2 stars out of 10!
-Durk-
FOLLOW UP
OK, we're a few months out. I still am on phone #4. It is still as cool as ever! I did upgrade the software on the handset. I wasn't paying attention and that upgrade erased EVERYTHING! No big worries, I synced up and everything was OK. The newest ActiveSync does not play well with firewalls, but I perservered and figured it out. The upgrade included a voice dial feature, VERY COOL. You press a button, say the name of the person you wish to call and it automatically dials! I've beat Argentum like 10 times. I've posted eBay auctions with my phone. The phone is still in one piece. There are no major scratches on the phone. It still loses the stylus. I still love it!
The Re-Building Phase
I lost everything on my work laptop's hard drive-so much for hope. All my email is gone. All of those spreadsheets are gone. All my automation scripts, gone. No more bookmarks, no backups of files that I left on the local hard drive, no more pics, no more music, IT IS ALL GONE.
But it isn't all irreplaceable or a critical loss. Life will go on, even my work life. I will still get emails in the future. I can re-create spreadsheets-maybe even better than before or see if I emailed a copy to someone else. The automation can be re-written-although not automatically. I can find all of those websites again. I can take more pics and steal more music.
I would like to say that I have learned from my mistakes! I will find some nifty program that will automatically back up my email .pst file. I will back up all of the documents in My documents folder. I will print out pictures and burn music onto CDs.
But what is reality? Reality is loss. Reality is pain. Reality hurts. OK, so that may be a bit dramatic, but no matter what I do I can't protect everything from everything.
So what? Well, thank goodness for second chances. Monday is over and Tuesday is here. IT Guy will hand-deliver my "new" laptop any minute now. I'll spend the next couple of days tweaking, installing and setting things just right. Then I'll get all of that backup stuff in place. Then I'll start working on all of those things that I lost.
Thus marks the beginning of my re-building phase.
Here it comes again: The Great Cosmic Truth:
Life is full of second chances. Forgiveness is a wonderful thing. Grace is a wonderful thing. This Easter season can be one where the old passes away and the new person is re-born. It isn't easy giving birth...Just ask my wife who had baby boy #4 just a couple of months ago (no girls). It also isn't easy re-building and changing for the better.
Is it worth it? Well, I don't know yet. I know I can't go back. There is nothing to go back to. So I have to move forward. I don't have to learn anything new or do things differently. But I can't remember everything that I lost...Or it wouldn't be that big of a loss. I don't remember how everything worked or was worded or organized or whatever. So I am going to have to do some things differently. Hopefully I will do them better as well.
Change is good. Growing is hard.
-Durk-
But it isn't all irreplaceable or a critical loss. Life will go on, even my work life. I will still get emails in the future. I can re-create spreadsheets-maybe even better than before or see if I emailed a copy to someone else. The automation can be re-written-although not automatically. I can find all of those websites again. I can take more pics and steal more music.
I would like to say that I have learned from my mistakes! I will find some nifty program that will automatically back up my email .pst file. I will back up all of the documents in My documents folder. I will print out pictures and burn music onto CDs.
But what is reality? Reality is loss. Reality is pain. Reality hurts. OK, so that may be a bit dramatic, but no matter what I do I can't protect everything from everything.
So what? Well, thank goodness for second chances. Monday is over and Tuesday is here. IT Guy will hand-deliver my "new" laptop any minute now. I'll spend the next couple of days tweaking, installing and setting things just right. Then I'll get all of that backup stuff in place. Then I'll start working on all of those things that I lost.
Thus marks the beginning of my re-building phase.
Here it comes again: The Great Cosmic Truth:
Life is full of second chances. Forgiveness is a wonderful thing. Grace is a wonderful thing. This Easter season can be one where the old passes away and the new person is re-born. It isn't easy giving birth...Just ask my wife who had baby boy #4 just a couple of months ago (no girls). It also isn't easy re-building and changing for the better.
Is it worth it? Well, I don't know yet. I know I can't go back. There is nothing to go back to. So I have to move forward. I don't have to learn anything new or do things differently. But I can't remember everything that I lost...Or it wouldn't be that big of a loss. I don't remember how everything worked or was worded or organized or whatever. So I am going to have to do some things differently. Hopefully I will do them better as well.
Change is good. Growing is hard.
-Durk-
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
