A mobile phone that's too smart for me

I had been relatively happy with my 'old' mobile phone but, due to the increasing pressure to text, put upon me by all those people with newer phones and newer attitudes who wouldn't actually ring me, I was having problems texting due to the tiny buttons and even tinier printed letters on each key, due to the main characters being Chinese characters (it's a long story). Then after a horrendously sweltering, endlessly long day and night at an outdoor music event, my phone suddenly seemed to have given up. Then began the slow and painful process of trawling through the phone shops, the online reviews, the YouTube demonstration videos, to try and decide what new phone to buy. A priority for me was a good digital camera, as I couldn't see the sense in buying a new camera AND a new phone. So in the end, it was between the Sony Ericsson Satio aka Idou and the Samsung M8910 because both had 12 megapixel cameras. They both had great features but in the end I chose the Satio as my previous phones have been Ericssons or Sony Ericssons and I have been happy with them.

It is a beautiful looking device, especially with the cherry red case and matching stylus I purchased for it. However, I am now discovering that, because I delayed upgrading my phone earlier, I am now several generations behind when it comes to understanding how these things work and what they can do. I have found it is not the most intuitive device but I have made a little progress since I got it. The instructions leaflet included is probably insufficient for someone of my limited phone experience, so it's a case of slowing reading up on and trying out each feature when time allows. It IS very lovely though and I think that, once I have worked it all out, we will have a great relationship.

Ironically, my old phone started working again perfectly AFTER I bought the new one.

Photo of Sony Ericsson Satio from:
Sony Ericsson

The fickle world of social networks

Ah, social networks - call me old fashioned but they just don't really cut it for me. I finally got a Facebook (FB) account just to make sure I wasn't missing out on anything and found... I wasn't missing out on anything. It seems a lot of the new voguey Web tools get tried out, then dropped just as rapidly. Here is an article that highlights a few trends in the current wave of social software on the net. One thing I found I worried about using FB was that anything you write is permanently on the net and possibly able to be indexed at some point (even if you choose not to have your account indexed in the options). Whereas, sending an email seems less risky or at least not as permanent. It's all 'out there' but email still seems more direct and private (not that it really is private of course). I can see some benefits of Facebook but, after checking many people on FB looking for potential old school friends, etc, it does seem that a vast number joined up then never used their accounts after that. Did they merely submit to peer group pressure? Did they join up in the hope of locating old friends and acquaintances but then discover for every name they tried there were 500+ results? At least in my case, I was only one of 2 or 3 with the same name, but anyone from my old school days won't find me as my name has changed. I think I find email and the phone (including texting) much more reliable and faster! It was fun to revisit old school FB accounts though and see some of the students who had attended there since I left.

Thought for the day

In this current climate of probable recession, a useful Credit Crunch tip: DON'T waste money on expensive iPods. Simply think of your favourite tune and hum it. If you want to "switch tracks", simply think of another song you like and hum that instead. Hee hee...

Barbie turns 50 but she's still a teenager!

Couldn't let today go past without noting that it is Barbie Millicent Roberts' 50th birthday. The new Barbie dolls certainly look glamorous but I prefer the charm of the vintage Barbie, especially the mod era Barbie. Mod era Barbie really captured the carefree feeling of being a teen and the era of truly innovative fashions.

Noah Wyle is... The Librarian!

Haven't posted to my blog in ages but I just had to post this. Apparently "The Librarian III: Curse Of The Judas Chalice" has just been released on DVD. I had to investigate... and so I located "The Librarian I: Quest For The Spear" and "Librarian II: Return To King Solomon's Mines" - what the ??? The blurb for the first film (refer Beyond Home Entertainment website) states "Having spent his life buried in the cloisters of academia, uber-geek Flynn is uncomfortable in the real world. But fate has a job for Flynn – as a new kind of superhero, at work in the basement of the New York Public Library." Man, this sounds like the job for me - a librarian but with a definite purpose, a calling, but more importantly, weaponry beyond a barcode scanning wand! However, I do believe these are Indiana Jones type movies and would seem to have a very tenuous link with libraries, although having not viewed these films I cannot be certain. It's kind of cool to challenge the old stereotype of librarians with this action hero and adventure stuff though, especially for kids. Hmmmnnn, how do I get hold of a copy now...