B. Mann Consulting

So, I went on my first GPS adventure after work tonight. I was talking to Roland about doing something for BarCamp Vancouver 2007, and he reminded me that Cyprien had a Bluetooth receiver to borrow. So, we swung by Cyprien's place and I was off to see if I could find the pieces to make this work. Thanks, Cyprien!

I specifically posted earlier about a simple GPS logging device instead of a Bluetooth receiver. Bluetooth receivers allow you to hook up a PDA or your laptop and do various "on the go" GPS activities, usually involving directions and maps. But, I'm looking for something dead simple that a) just works and b) doesn't mean fiddling with / charging / carrying a bunch of other devices.

Update: this was posted live from the reading using a mobile blog client. Much of it is a partial transcript of Guy speaking.

I'm at a reading with Guy Gavriel Kay, which is taking place as part of the Vancouver International Writer's Festival. At the last minute, Susie said she had an extra ticket. It turns out that I love Guy's work: I've read and enjoyed all his books, so I was happy to come along.

Provence was the inspiration for his new book, Ysabel. Guy is explaining that Provence is some place that you literally trip over history. Much of his works deal with different times, and events in the past having an effect on today. So it's fitting that this book is a novel set in modern times.

Guy spoke about the tension in France in 2004 (and today) and how that contributed to the evolution of the novel. Ysabel does still deal with some of the history and magic that Guy is known for: the tension of a Roman world vs. a Celtic world, with conflict reaching back for millenia. Provence was the right backdrop. We don't have records of battles over Antarctica - it is places like the south of France, places of extreme beauty, that have this legacy of conflict.

My friend Stewart Marshall took the plunge and also got an E61 after seeing mine. He ended up ordering from Expansys -- they look like a really great online store to order mobile gear from in Canada. I had noticed them before and will probably be getting a cheapo GPS unit from there to experiment with.

In any case, Stewart was asking about syncing with the Mac. There isn't an E-series compatible plugin for iSync yet, but there are various instructions for enabling this floating around.

I used the very geeky instructions from Mac OS X Hints. There is also a free plugin described here, although some people seem to have trouble with it. 

I've been a long time user of NetNewsWire -- the best desktop news aggregator app on any platform. But I'm switching to Google Reader.

Reason number one is portability. Forget synching...it just doesn't work reliably, and I don't like NewsGator's online version at all. I'm now on my Nokia E61 phone a lot, and the mobile version of Google Reader works great 

Reason number two is that I want to share. My delicious postings are one of the main ways I've been sharing lightly -- light blog posting in general, except for brief spurts like today. I think that Google Reader will make it easier for me to share. For example, here are all the postings I've gathered in my "bryght" folder. It's not ideal --  I can only tag, star, or share items, without leaving any commentary as I do in delicious -- but I expect it will get better.

The big downside of Google Reader? No authenticated feeds. I have many beefs with Google and the way they're dealing (or not dealing, as the reality is) with identity: this lack of support for authenticated feeds seems another aspect of this. 

Yes, I finally got a new cellphone. My Nokia 6630 lasted me 2 years, and has been a great phone. But, I'm finding the need for a smartphone -- calendar, to do's, and email at my fingertips. Hence, sticking with my favourite platform, the Nokia E61 was the best choice for me. If I wanted to do more multimedia with my phone, I would have held out for the Nokia N95, with 5Mp camera and integrated GPS, including geotagging of photos on the fly. *drool* If I had wanted a phone with camera in the same price range as the E61, my pick would have been the Nokia N80 (which is what Kris just picked up to replace his Sidekick).

Regardless...I will miss having a cameraphone. I'll have to see what kind of camera or picture taking workflow will make it easy to still upload photos on the fly.

Even better, I didn't even have to travel to Europe to actually buy the phone. I got it at Cellular Baby, just a few blocks from my house.

My first impression of the phone: fast! The UI is very responsive, and it comes loaded with applications. I haven't had much of a chance to add extra applications. I'll be putting Opera on, even though the built in browser is surprisingly usable in some ways.