New Toys...

mikeg@bsd-box.net (mikeg) — Thu, 08 Dec 2005 23:45:00 -0500

So, I done went ant bought me a new toy -- a BlackBerry 7520 (the iDEN/Nextel BlackBerry). Ignoring for the moment the fact that this will probably double my cell phone bill (which I'm OK with), I've decided that I really need the features of a jumbo-phone. And this was all spurred by Jeremy @ work buying a Treo (bastard). It's a true case of gadget envy -- He can SSH in to servers from his treo. And I want that! Two superpad parties have fallen on weekends when I'm On-Call for work (even though I didn't go to the one this past weekend), and when I'm there (or anywhere else without a convenient WiFi hotspot, or where I don't want to bring my laptop) it would be nice to have the ability to SSH in to servers. But I LIKE my Nextel. The radio feature is useful. Besides, WLNP is still a bit of a hassle, and I don't like AT&T/Cingular/Verizon/T*Mobile's service around here (Verizon is about on par with Nextel for the places I go, but it was still all "No Signal" when I was camping in CT with friends). The new toy arrived today, and I spent the better part of the evening fucking around with it, and with MIDPSSH, which while far from the comforts of a laptop (| isn't on the BB keyboard?!?) is still a usable tool. The other tool I consider essential for my BlackBerry-Enabled life is PocketMac BlackBerry edition. This nifty little piece of software wizardry lets me sync my Blackberry data with my Mac PIM programs (iCal, Tasks, Address Book, Stickies). Especially essential because I have all my contacts in my old i530 phone, and spent part of last night typing them in to my iBook. Having a WORKING sync between the Mac and my phone lets me keep my contact info safe between phone upgrades. I haven't played too much with the Blackberry's killer app (eMail) - I sent a few, and received a few, but I haven't decided how I want to integrate this in to my life yet. I certainly don't want my work email going to my BlackBerry (dear Jesus GOD no! Too...Much...Spam...Must...Kill...EVERYONE!), and I'm not sure how much of my personal mail I want going there either. Some creative procmail rules may be in order in the near future. Anyone who has what I like to call a "BlackBerry Ghettoprize Server" (UNIX machine that plays nice with your BB) please clue in on how you do it -- If I can get the cool BES-esque mail reconciliation working that would be sweet. If not I could still live with it, I'd just be slightly happier if I could shame all those shmucks who shell out for a BES license just so the 5 people in the company with blackberries can feel good about getting their SexChange mail on their phones (and yeah I'm talking about MY company. Tyler, Eric, Mark, Dave and probably 2-3 people I'm forgetting about with Company blackberries (on BES), and me wanting to show them all up :)) Sleepy time now. Gutenicht! [EDIT -- Fixed broken HTML]

mikeg's blog - Cell Phone

New Toys...