RJ's Blogtastic Universe

I recently got a Motorola Droid phone. Here’s my review.

First, I get great service – I’ve had it two months and haven’t had a dropped call the whole time. I love it that the main intended function actually works as it was intended!

The feature that has come in most handy so far is the navigation. It comes at no extra cost, and it works just like a GPS. I’ve used it many times already. I’m still getting used to the fact that I never have to wander around lost again. It’s pretty freeing, and I’m grateful that I didn’t have to shell out the cash for a Garmin.

I don’t know how familiar readers are with the iphone, or the App Store. The Android Market is a bit clunkier to use, but I wouldn’t worry about the fact that it has less apps. App developers are going to start releasing versions of their apps across platforms, just like video game developers release the same game for different consoles. Also, there are a lot of free apps that I have found to be pretty useful.

The camera is a little odd at first. You have to hold the button to focus, and the release of the button is what triggers the actual photo. It takes a little getting used to. Also troubling – it’s been difficult so far to download the photos on to my machine. I’m hoping this will become easier in future releases.

One of the nice things is that you can can do two things at once. For instance, you don’t have to close one application to get another one running. Also nice – the Android will bring in all of your Facebook contacts, and integrate them with your phone contacts. For example, when I go to call one of my contacts, I get his phone numbers, his email, and his last status update. and I can call or text/IM him from the same page – no need to find another program.

The integration with Google Search is nice. Right on the home screen there is a search bar, and you can activate a search by voice, if you want.

Also, if you’re a ringtone person, the ringtones are all free. Just download Mabilo Ringtones from the Android Market. I like assigning ringtones, so it was a bonus for me.

I really like the Android. Aside from improving the Android Market, I don’t have any complaints. I got the Motorola from Verizon. The physical shape of it is a little clunky, but I really prefer a slide out keyboard. If I felt more comfortable with an onscreen keyboard, I might have chosen another brand of Droid, just for a more user friendly shape.

That’s about all I have for the Droid. Another possible competitor to the Android will be coming out soon – the Google phone. If you have any interest in that, then hold off for a couple of months, or read about it online. I’ve read a couple of things, but I haven’t seen one yet, so I can’t tell you much!

The holiday was pretty good. This part of the country is blanketed with snow. Actually, I think it’s more like a comforter. A big, thick comforter that no one can drive through. The last time I saw my car was about 48 hours ago. I spent Christmas Eve with the Upah’s (scored a fine pair of bongo drums) and then I headed to Council Bluffs to see my friend Alyssa’s parents. I think this is the third Christmas I’ve spent over there, and we had a good time (scored a book, treats for Jazz, and some cool figurines for the shelf). I love low key holiday experiences, know what I mean? We opened presents and hung out. The others played some games while I taught Alyssa’s stepmom how to do a couple of computer things. I was happy and useful in my RJ element.

I also saw the movie Up, which I highly recommend. Nice story and great animation, and what else is there to say? I drove home pretty late on Christmas Eve, and let me tell you, there was no danger of me falling asleep. I was terrified, to tell you the truth. The roads were a little worse than I anticipated. Visibility and snow drifts were particularly difficult to navigate. I almost just stayed over, but no one would have been here to let Jazz out. Besides, the forecast had indicated the situation was only going to get worse. I’m actually glad I headed home, because I haven’t been able to leave since. My car isn’t even in my parking lot – I had to get as close as I could and hoof it the rest of the way.

So Jazz and I have been cuddling for a couple of days now. This has been great, but I really need to get out. I’m a person who really does need some input from other people. Occasionally. It’s not being alone that bothers me, it’s knowing that I can’t really leave. I hate being told anything, which has been a rather noticeable pattern through my life. I can’t even write on lined paper, to tell you the truth – it’s too much structure for me.

I’ve painted a little bit, I’ve played the bongos, I’ve done some Internet things, I called my grandmother – and now I’m over it. I have to get out.

Recently I’ve been giving Google Wave  try. I am a Google fan, so do take that into consideration. That said, my overall impression is that eventually, it will be huge. At the moment, however, it is a little too technical.

There were a lot of things that I loved about it. My professor and I tried it out at one of our meetings. We met at a coffee shop and attempted to simulate an online conversation. One of the main strengths behind the idea of Google Wave is that it is designed to “mirror” the way  a real conversation works. Most online exchanges today are accomplished through email. I say this, you respond, I respond to that, and so on. The longer the email chain gets, the harder it becomes to keep track of the different topics discussed. If you want to refer to something that was said a few emails ago, you have to search for it. Sometimes this can be quite an effort.

Google Wave simplifies this a little bit. First of all, it treats the entire conversation as one document, rather than several single documents attached together. It’s easier to find your way around, especially if you want to go back to an earlier topic. Google Wave allows you to indent and add on to the former conversation.

I think this is a good feature because while emails give us a linear, chronological way to record our conversations, my mind doesn’t necessarily work in a linear, chronological way. My mind bounces around like a pinball machine, mostly – especially if I’m creating something. Which is what I do most of the time.

There is a feature that I am excited about, but it looks as if it’s not quite working yet. I have read in many articles about Google Wave that they are going to add “robots” that take certain actions or insert information into the Wave automatically. This is exciting to me for many reasons, but I also have some questions. What kind of actions will it be able to do? What kind of triggers can I put in there? At the moment, Google Wave has a limited number of extensions available, some pretty solid offerings that allow people who are part of the Wave to vote on things, video conference, check the weather for certain places, etc. These are all good, but I would like to see much more in this area for the future.

The pitfalls of Google Wave are that it is still a bit clunky at this time. It takes too many clicks to add things, it is not always evident where certain features are located, and so on. That said, those are pretty easy things to fix. Over time, much of this will be resolved as Google gets feedback from the users. Also, the extensions will be added to over time. Not only will Google add to them, but they have extended this opportunity to users as well. Some of the more geeky types will get into this, I am sure.

It’s the “anti-Microsoft” version of product release. Microsoft’s way – and the way we are used to receiving new technology products – is to develop an idea that is the property of a few people. These few people gather around a whiteboard and brainstorm something that they think will be valuable for users. They develop and release it, usually with a moderate amount of bugs. Users get frustrated, but most assume that the situation is unchangeable.

The realm of product release has changed a bit, however. Much of this transformation is due to the rapid pace of changing technology. It just takes too long to develop the perfect piece of technology. Also, instead of a few people being the chief architects of the technology, many are moving to a more user centered structure. User feedback that used to take weeks to collect and process now takes minutes, and many companies are poised to take advantage of that. Users know what they want and need, and technology companies that are willing to be adaptive will certainly benefit.

In short, Google Wave is good, and it’s going to get better. I expect both the user friendliness and the availability of valuable gadgets to improve in the coming months. If you’re a tech head like me, you might enjoy it in its present state. If you are easily frustrated by an interface that is a bit clunky, wait a few months. I have seven invitations left – if you want to try it out, just drop me a line.

Today’s stats: 167.1, 430 calories burned at the gym, and 1,199 total calories taken in. Essentially a pretty good day.

I was thinking quite a bit today about one of the first lessons I learned when it came to changing my eating. I learned that what I eat is really up to me. It seems pretty elementary, but for a long time I suffered under the mistaken notion that I had to let other people or circumstances dictate what I ate. I spent a lot of time eating fast food, which I think I’m still working off. I never really thought about what my body needed, I was just trying to put out the fire in my stomach.

Several years ago, I went on the Atkins diet for a while. I did lose weight (which came right back), but I think the most important thing about that experience was learning that it was OK to eat differently than everyone else. I really hated it at first. I would rather have carved my heart out with a dull spoon than attract attention by eating something different. After I had begun to lose weight, however, it began to get a lot easier. Then I saw that the more I paid attention to making a good choice for myself, the better my results became. It was really a great experience, except that I became bored with the food and strayed from the diet.

This has happened to me many times, in one form or another. I have some success, learn some valuable lessons, but then I become bored with the food or the exercise and just give up. As always, though, I can’s say that this time it will be different. I can only say that today can be different, if I’m in the right frame of mind and can make some good choices.

This time, I’ve lost about 30-35 pounds, and that makes quite a difference on a short girl like myself. Many people have asked me how I’ve been able to lose the weight. Truth be told, the answer is different every day. It’s because every day I’m faced with a different set of circumstances. I choose whether or not to exercise, or how, or what I’m eating today, etc. No two days are ever the same. If there were a simple formula for weight loss that everyone’s body responded to, the diet industry wouldn’t be nearly as large.

I think that’s it for today. My soapbox is getting a little unsteady…

Concerning the season 3 finale, when we find out a musician has programmed the jamming code – it has to be Charlie. I have nothing to substantiate this, but it was him, trust me. We’ll see in Season 6.

Today’s stats: 168.7, burned about 350 calories this morning. Configured my ipod to start tracking my calories again.

So, I’ve just spent the last three hours configuring WordPress (not that it’s that hard, just that I am really picky about backgrounds and features) and now I’m getting too tired to write an intelligible post. However, since it’s never stopped me before…

I’ve started this blog as a way to be accountable to my weight loss goals. I have a serious amount to lose, and I’m right in the middle of the process. This is the part where I usually slow down and start to backtrack. Here’s the problem with that scenario – I have no more time to waste. I just had knee surgery last April, and I will do just about anything to avoid any more surgery. (Hated it, big thumbs down.) Besides, I have to look hot for Norway.

It’s named 60% because food is 60% of the weight loss challenge. Actually, for me we could rename this 80%. I really don’t have any problems with exercise, aside from the fact that I occasionally get bored and drop out. I think my main problem is with food – what, when and how much. I have a lot to learn, and I’ll be reporting this as I go.

All right, I have more settings to configure. Back tomorrow!

Here’s how my weekend trip went down:

I did successfully finish the most boring paper in the world before I left town. EPA policy is actually kind of interesting, but the way I needed to write about it felt like the world’s longest book report. At any rate, I finished that bad boy right before getting into the car and heading for Iowa.

Ahh yes, Iowa. I grew up there, mostly… aside from that foray into Oregon (that’s another post, I’m sure). This weekend I went to see Beans and her fam in North Central Iowa. Off I went, into the corn… the trip was great. I don’t know why I like road trips so much. Part of it was excitement over seeing the Bean again. I’d been looking forward to going ever since we made the plan. I also love long drives because it gives me some uninterrupted time to think. A little time to reflect on life, you know. I also turned 36 last week, another cause for thinking about the past, and the future. I really love school, but I tend to get pretty myopic about the whole thing. I shouldn’t hone in on just one thing like that – it’s not really healthy – but I like to say that I’m not obsessed, I’m just focused….

So anyway, there I was, thinking about things, singing at the top of my lungs, occasionally listening to my GPS tell me where to go – I love that thing. I really do. When I make a wrong turn, it doesn’t even bother to say “Recalculating…” which is great, because it would say that all the time (I make a lot of wrong turns. Hence the need for the GPS). I did eventually make it to the casa of Beans and Co. It was such a beautiful day that we went to sit on the porch, where two things immediately struck me. Watching her boys play on the hill reminded me of when we used to run around her yard when we were kids. Things change, but they really don’t, you know? Incidentally, this was also the nature of my second realization. She pointed out the zip line that they had set up in the back yard. I may have giggled internally, at that point. Many of you may know that I am an honorary member of the Upah family – they have a zip line in their back yard as well. Tom and I have been pretty close friends for about fifteen years, and over the weekend I was struck several times at how similar my two friends are, though I know they have never met.

Isn’t it funny, how we choose our friends? And isn’t it funny which friendships actually last? So many times in my life, mostly when I was younger, I sought out who I thought were the “right” people to make friends with. Then I would try to be someone that I wasn’t – which never seemed to work out. It turns out that the right people have seemed to show up on their own. I didn’t seek either of these two out, and I don’t remember in either case when we became friends, but both of them have had a great impact on me. Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans, I guess…

And I digress. I got to meet husband Kevin and the teeny peeps (does that sound like a band name?), and the kids are quite cute in person. I had a lot of fun with them, actually. I always wonder what kids will make of me – I wear funny shoes, I have funny hair, and I also came adorned with a Band-Aid on my forehead this weekend (that’s another story). But it all worked out just fine. Max (7) and I passed notes on Saturday night, much like his mom and I used to do back in the day. He wanted to know the basics of his mom’s friend – where I lived, background ethnicity, that sort of thing. We exchanged some pertinent information – he’s quite smart with words and he likes to hunt squirrels. Zach is 6, appears to dislike rhubarb, and is missing his two front teeth. I did get to see one of the teeth. I always kept my teeth too… Will is 4, and possibly the most expressive kid that I know. Over the weekend, I think I watched him use every single muscle in his face. Mya is 2. She was a little shy at first, but she warmed up to me after a while. We put some puzzles together on the floor, and I loved it. I have quite a few nephews, honorary and otherwise, but only one niece so far. She’s quite smart, as well… Kevin and I didn’t share too much conversation, but it’s pretty clear how much he loves his family.

And the Beans? Well, what can we say about the Beans? I did not recall how much of a smartass she is. How could I have forgotten this? Perhaps I blocked it out… At any rate, one of the high points of the weekend was just trying to keep up with her. It was interesting – usually, I’m the one making people laugh. This weekend, I wasn’t the only one…

We laughed a lot. We told as many stories as we could in the time allotted. We went through some of her family pictures, and found a few photos of the four of us at one of her birthday parties. In a couple of them, I am rocking a particularly fabulous sweater vest. I would describe it here, but it has to be seen to be believed. And I’m sure that it will be posted somewhere…

Here’s something I didn’t know about Bean in 1986: she’s one hell of a cook. Seriously. I have never eaten like that, ever. Of course, my basis of comparison is me – and I just learned how to make popcorn. So perhaps I am biased in these statements – but I don’t really care. We ate things I would never think of making, and they were all fantastic. She is also an encyclopedia of food knowledge – everything you’ve always wanted to know about food, but your mouth was full, so you were too polite to ask. I think I gathered enough information to be very afraid of anything that has been partially hydrogenated.

After the teeny peeps fell asleep, we diverted to the computers for a while. Beaner had some small things that needed to be done, and it was my pleasure to try and help out. I think it helped me more than it helped her – it has been a long time since my IT talent has really helped anyone directly. It was a nice reminder that I do have some skills that really help people, that I am in school again for a bigger purpose. I sorely needed that – it’s been a hell of a semester!

And then we chatted deep into the night. I might have fallen asleep in the middle of a sentence – I’m not sure. I think we at least covered the major highlights of the last twenty years. Besides, you don’t want to bring all your baggage on the first trip – it sucks to have to check it in.

It turns out that I found Bean just as I had left her, with her feet planted firmly on the Earth. When we were kids, I was always so concerned about what people thought of my family, because we didn’t have much. Now I wish I hadn’t measured myself by such harsh terms. (My best friend didn’t.) And now I get another chance to reconnect with something a little more important. I guess we shared more than markers, in those days…

The moral of the story? Be careful who you share your markers with, obviously . I walked away on Sunday with a lighter heart, a better outlook on the last few weeks of school and a brand new set of emotional attachments. I came back home to find out that Jazz actually ate something this time, while I was away – she usually doesn’t. She was pretty glad to see me, though. I also arrived buttcheek deep in homework. The final push has begun – and the light at the end of the tunnel is not a train – I hope.

That’s all, Gentle Readers. Happy Holidays, whichever ones you choose to celebrate.