I’m very proud to announce the launch of FavePersonal; a WordPress theme designed for personal websites. I have been using (and building and…
Fellow Colorado web geeks, I made you a t-shirt. The code that comprises the white stripe is a full, working HTML page with canvas code that draws…
It’s been very interesting to me to see how some folks are re-evaluating their work/life balance in the wake of reading Isaacson’s Steve…
Congratulations and thanks to Daniel Pasco, who has created a fantastic solution for using the BlackBerry 870* series as a Bluetooth modem in Mac OS X. I’ve just tested a development build that allowed me to browse the web and download mail. Awesome! Daniel claims the bounty. Daniel is hard at work polishing it up…
I started the draft of this post back in May, and had this much written as a placeholder: Exchange integration is always going to be easier for Windows Mobile. RIM should be working hard on making the BlackBerry work well with non-Microsoft server integration solutions. My conclusion was also that RIM should strongly consider putting…
I’m still pining away for “over the air” (OTA) sync for my BlackBerry and I’ve been thinking more about Google Calendar as a result. Google Calendar is interesting to me because it is basically what I would have built (minus some of the SMS features) had I decided to build a calendaring system. Everything is…
The BlackBerry 8703e is very similar to the BlackBerry 8700g, but there are some differences. They are subtle, but they make a noticeable difference in the user experience. Key Shape – This may be the biggest issue for me. The keys are shaped slightly differently on the two devices. The 8700g has a slant along…
My BlackBerry 8703e came in today. I spent much of the afternoon and evening mucking around with it, trying to get it to work as a modem. Everything started rather encouragingly – the Sprint booklet includes a chapter on using the phone as a modem. Unfortunately, the steps did not work for me – I…
One thing I learned in my week in the Bay Area, T-Mobile’s coverage is actually better in the Denver Metro than it is in some areas. I’ve put in an order for an 8703e from Sprint. Sprint’s pricing1 was enough better than Verizon’s to tip me in their direction. Hopefully, I’ll get better coverage and…
The September 30th deadline for my BlackBerry Bounty has arrived, and unfortunately I haven’t seen a working solution from any of the folks who are working on it. I have, however, been in touch quite a bit this week with Daniel Pasco. Daniel has been working feverishly to meet the bounty deadline, and I’ve used…
With just 5 short days left on the deadline for my bounty for tethering a BlackBerry 8700 to a Mac as a modem (bounty currently at $610 $675, please contribute!), there are suddenly a few rumblings. Perhaps someone will claim the bounty after all! Will anyone make the Sept. 30 deadline? In the BlackBerry forums,…
Knowing I’m an interested party, Brett1 sent me a link to the article on LifeHacker that explains how to use ScheduleWorld as a sync hub for your PIM data. It all looks really good, including supporting over the air (OTA) sync of BlackBerry devices. I tested the sync with Google Calendar and it worked. So…
Prompted by Adam’s search, I took the time to look at the big four wireless carriers in the US. The pricing differences between them is startling. Here is the monthly cost of 900+ anytime minutes, 300+ text messages, wireless data, BlackBerry support and the ability to use the phone as a modem with unlimited data:…
My BlackBerry Bounty is at $560 and has pretty well stagnated there. Perhaps I need to submit it to Slashdot digg. I’ve heard from a few interested developers, but at the moment I’m worried I’m going to have to just refund everyone’s money. C’mon folks – someone out there must have a love for writing…
In the comments on my redundant e-mail service post, Avi Flax brought up Zimbra as a potential alternative to a hosted Exchange account (for e-mail, calendaring, etc.). Kevin Henrikson was kind enough to stop by and clarify a few things for us: Zimbra has support for Blackberry over-the-air sync as an add-on in our most…
My post asking for calendaring suggestions resulted in a lot of feedback, but no solutions that accomplished the goals I was looking for: Sync between desktop computers and handheld. Web access for viewing and entering/editing. Public view of combined free-busy state. There is a solution that does all of this, but is isn’t one I’m…
DeWitt has ditched his BlackBerry, not wanting to be connected 24-7 anymore. I can understand, I’ve had e-mail on my handheld for about 7 years now: Palm V and Palm Vx with OmniSky Palm i705 Treo 300 Treo 600 BlackBerry 8700 It doesn’t matter what device you use, push e-mail to a mobile device is…
The BlackBerry interface is unapologetically a power user interface. Much of the functionality is only available through keyboard shortcuts or the click wheel (not immediately apparent via buttons, etc.). In contrast, the Palm OS presents almost all of its functionality in on-screen buttons – eschewing menus for the most part. Once you take make the…
I was wrong when I said you can’t tether a BlackBerry as a modem in Parallels. You can tether in Parallels, you just have to disable your PocketMac drivers first. Move the BlackberryUSB*.kext folders out of the /System/Library/Extensions folder, restart, then you can connect to your BlackBerry in Parallels with no problem. This is great,…
Google Maps for the BlackBerry is fantastic! I am often underwhelmed by Google products but the maps team builds some really great stuff. This thing rocks. Thanks to Ethan for linking to this.
It looks like the folks behind Shark Modem (a BlackBerry modem application for Windows) are considering making a Mac version. I’m on a rooftop in their latest blog post. Will they be the ones to claim the bounty (which is up to $482 now!)?
My BlackBerry Bounty is up to $400. If you’re interested in using your BlackBerry as a modem for your Mac laptop (PowerBook/MacBook), please consider donating and helping spread the word.
My BlackBerry Bounty is up to $300. Even better, there is a developer interested in working in the project. Any help you guys can provide to get the word out is appreciated.
I received this question about my BlackBerry Bounty today: Alex, I noticed that Verizon was omitted in the rules portion of the tethering to a Mac bounty. Is there a reason for this? I just switched to a BB 7130E from a Treo 650, and would love to use it as a modem for my…
Though I badly want to be able to use my BlackBerry as a modem for my MacBook in Mac OS X (bounty is up to $105!), I can use the BlackBerry as a modem for the MacBook now if I boot into Windows via Boot Camp. This ability was one of the major reasons for…
As far as I can tell, no one has yet come up with a way to tether a BlackBerry 8700 to a Mac (running Mac OS X) to use it as a modem. This works on the PC, so it’s likely a matter of reverse engineering to get it working on OS X. It seems…
If you call someone on the Sprint network, you can press 1 to skip the voicemail greeting and get straight to leaving a message. They are even kind enough to tell you this during the extended “instructional” section of the greeting. The inability to do this with my friends on Cingular has always annoyed me,…
The main reason I’ve decided to make the jump to the BlackBerry, despite it’s shortcomings, is that I no longer have any faith in the Palm OS as a platform. RIP Palm OS With the Palm OS sold and PalmSource looking to build on Linux, I just don’t see the current Palm OS getting “fixed”…