The retail experience for a PDA is pretty horrible...

 

The market for stand-alone non-phone devices is evaporating at a rapid clip, but even so there used to be dozens of products in this space, heck there used to be other palm-os liscensees. The smell of defeat is in the air.

This is the environment in which you have to make a purchasing decision though? Breakfast cerial box displays are better organized than this. Partially that's the fault of fry's but it's not like office-depot or comp-usa is better, and if anything fry's has more devices. You're better off, buying sight-unseen online. I looks to me like HP who basically invented the PDA business with msdos running palmtops (hp lx) may end up being the last player in the marketplace for a straight-up pda though since they do windows smart phones as well who knows. 

N800 vs the Sony Mylo

I kind of actually want to like the Mylo because it's a Linux box but I just can't... The UI is pretty much like a psp or similar, the keyboard isn't to bad, though it's a domed membrane like the Sony CLIE palm-os pda's had. The device just doesn't seem very flexible though and it's doesn't seem like they are making noises about producing an improved one. Not actively trying to create a developer community around the thing will limit what looks like an already abridged life-span. In some respect it's like sony's be-os based web-browsing appliance, a one-off attempt based on a desire to fill a niche market that may or may not exist.

hipster commuter bike...

 

Says "steal me" a little loudly as far as I'm concerned. 

Dessert - Julia's kitchen NAPA CA

 
  

10 reasons to be grateful...

 

Homeless camp in the abandoned Tower Records parking-lot North Beach San Franciso CA. 

Meta photograph.

 

Me taking a picture of the n800 video confrencing camera looking at me. 

Someone tell the Canadians it's cold outside!

  

Expanding usage with the n800

The Nokia 800 (which just arrived here) opens up some new possibilities. For one, The battery lasts all day now even with the wifi connected. While the 770 never really shut off presence apps didn't quite work because the wireless was off to conserve battery, now like your phone and unlike you laptop the n800 will just be on all the time. It automatically associates with configured ap's when in range.

The elements that make a phone an ubiquitous always-on communications tool are falling into place for the network computer.

Billing address as an authorization token...

So I've noticed now that I have more than one abode, that online merchants frequently use your billing address on your credit card as an authorization token, without herculean effort that is the only address they will ship to.

This presents a problem if you are shuttling between states. Sensible merchants (IE Amazon) can cope with someone shipping to an address you don't reside at (how else does one send gifts) or event sending multiple items in the same order to different locations.

But my biggest issue ultimately is that as indication of authorization to perform an action billing address is a pretty poor token. Digital signatures have basically failed in the consumer space if that's the best we can do frankly.

On the face of it identity theft involving moving mailing addresses doesn't seem that hard, or maybe I'm missing something.

You can of course add additional shipping addresses to credit cards and many retailers will accept those but how many addresses do you have to have (6 or 8 ) before you can't remember which address is associated with which card?