More Tech Talk

I love my new iPhone. Mostly. I migrated from a Treo 650,  which is a pretty big change.  Sort of.  I've been using Palm OS PDAs for 10 years and been through at least 5 different devices. Since I made the commitment, the PDA and its desktop counterpart(s) have run my life, both personally and professionally. Suffice it to say there were a few adjustments when making the switch. 

Anyway, I'm really liking this thing. For the most part. Just this week I think I've solved two of my biggest complaints. First is that the iPhone lacks a To Do list. That's an issue for me, as I use the  To Do List not only for tasks, but also as a place to organize thoughts. Because a task can be "undated," I can, for example, jot down ideas for my next newsletter, or blog entry. Enter Toodledo. Huh? Check it out. It's really cool. It does a ton more than task management too. 

At my day job, I keep track of my personal calendar, email, etc. through Google's Gmail and Calendar. With the Treo, I kept my calendar in sync with Gcal, using a really neat service provided by Goosync. Goosync will allow pretty much any cell phone with a calendar to sync wirelessly with Google's calendar and contacts. Goosync has promised iPhone support very soon, so when that's up and running, I'm good to go.  Also, Toodledo interacts nicely with Gcal. Oh, and Jott will allow me to record on the iPhone with my voice, transcribe what I say to text, and automagically add it to Toodledo. VERY NICE for someone like me who gets a lot of ideas when driving. 

I'm excited to finally have this part of my life back in order. I've had the iPhone for a month or so and been looking for solutions. Some general comments about the phone: The built-in GPS has come in really handy. The 3G network is a bit spotty in areas where I drive, but when it's available, it's fast. Also, the phone seamlessly switches among the various wi-fi networks I use and the 3G service. The keyboard took some getting used to, but I'm liking it now. The 3rd party apps are pretty cool. The screen is really crisp and bright enough to see in bright sunlight. On the "needs improvement" side, it seems odd to me that there is no copy/paste function. The calendar is a bit linear for me and feels like a step backward from Palm. Bluetooth works only with headsets. And the battery life is a little suspect and inconsistent. However, considering this is only the 2nd generation of a product that is just over a year old, it will be exciting to see what it can do down the road. 

Technology and Landscape Design

It's been awhile since I last posted. It's primarily because of the demands of the season, and this post will be brief for the same reason. 

I'm sure many others have discovered some of the new features in Google Maps. Briefly, if you enter an address, quite often there is an interactive street-level photo linked to it. So if you are headed out, for example, to meet a new client, you can do some homework and take a sneak peek at the front of the property. Aerial photos are available too. It's pretty cool. 

There have also been some interesting things captured by these cameras, like they guy on a Chicago street pointing a gun at a kid , and people photographed entering/exiting some types of businesses that they would probably prefer to remain private! See some fun examples here: 

Abovetopsecret.com and Mashable.com

Here's a funny spoof of the technology. 

Also, if you use Internet Explorer on a Windows machine, check out Microsoft Virtual Earth. You get full 3-D aerial photos. Pretty cool. 

More soon on the APLD conference I attended recently.