I have moved my cell service to Sprint… there will be another review of what an absolutely AWFUL transition that was… This review will focus on my new phone - The Mogul.

This device is made by HTC and I must say that when I was with my prior cell provider I had a very early version of this phone.  Perhaps this review may be tainted with just a little bit of familiarity bias.

I use my cellular phone for work.  In fact I rarely carry it unless I travel for work.  When I am using it there are two primary modes of operation.  As a phone for communicating with customers and employees, and to help me manage my email mess.  (I get a couple hundred pieces of email daily.)

Setup for me was pretty straight forward.  As I said I was already familiar with the basic operations of Windows Mobile 6 and the interface of contacts and email.  I had the phone fully synchronized with our corporate Exchange (Webmail) server in a matter of minutes.  (before I left the mall)

Active Sync is not my favorite application in the world but one that is a necessity if you want to send data to the phone.  In my XP environment I have had difficulties getting Active Synch to recognize when the phone is connected and IF the phone is connected when I boot it will sometimes keep my PC from booting.  Since I don’t actually use it to sync my email, calendar or contacts I hardly ever have it connected but of course I do use it to send music to the device, programs, etc.

The Mogul seems to be much more stable than my 8125 was.  I have been using it for a few weeks now and I have never had to force a reboot.  (Power Off)  I also find that it moves between applications much quicker.   

I find the buttons and roller knob to be positioned well although I would have preferred the buttons on the keyboard that perform the menu actions to be positioned below the text on the screen instead of at each end of the keyboard. 

Speaking of the slideout keyboard this is the PRIMARY reason I ended up with this phone.  When I first moved over to Sprint I tried the “Touch”.  This phone is also by HTC but it did not have a keyboard at all and I found it very difficult for me to use the phone to type email on the touch sensitive screen.  I then moved to the Motorola Q and found that the keys were a bit too small and I was spending more time correcting spelling errors than actually composing the email.  The buttons on this keyboard are a bit larger allowing my thumbs to perform the typing.  Again maybe it is a familiarity thing but I really struggled with the other two choices.

Couple of things I am concerned about…  First the sliding screen to reveal the keyboard seems already to be getting a bit weak and it appears that from just normal wear and tear in the case, etc.. that it is slightly askew when it is closed.  I decided to carry the phone “insurance” due to this sliding screen and prior experience.   I’m also a bit concerned about the coverage and while I understand this has a lot to do with the service provider - Sprint - but both the Touch and the Q that I had prior to my Mogul were able to get cellular coverage in my home.   My Mogul is unable to get coverage. 

Overall, I am quite happy with this phone and I would put it on my recommend list.  You have touch screen capability as well as a decent sized keyboard… it is “zippy”, it takes advantage of many (not all) of the Sprint features like Sprint Navigation and Phone as Modem (If you want Sprint TV you will have to use a different device). 

Unfortunately, I still have Xobni uninstalled.  There are two primary hurdles that still present themselves which I am currently unable to get past on my primary work machine.

First, I periodically use a Satellite connection through a VPN to connect to our corporate email Exchange server.  When I operate in that environment with Xobni installed, my Outlook become unbearably slow.  What is unbearably slow… well let’s just say that I could type a complete sentence pick up the phone, look up a phone number and dial that number and when I look at the screen the sentence will not be visible in its entirety.  (In all fairness to what I consider to be a great application this slowdown does not seem to exist on my high speed (DSL) connection when connected through our VPN.)  Since I spend about 40-50% of my time in that satellite environment I can’t deal with the extreme slowness.

Second, is that I still have the issue of improper shutdown of Outlook.  This causes corruption in my mailstores which take absolutely forever to rebuild when I restart Outlook.  Things that I have tried to do to resolve this problem…

Archive messages - I have nearly 100,000 messages and I have now broken them all into separate mailstores by year to get their file sizes down.

Upgrade to Outlook 2007 - Recently I made a change to Outlook 2007 thinking perhaps there may have been an issue with 2003 an the interaction with other applications.  (I had another selfish reason - I wanted the ClearContext beta and right now it only runs on 2007)

Rebuild the mailstores with ScanPST - I have rebuilt each and every one of the mailstores (archives included) thinking that any errors that would be found and corrected may ultimately resolve the shutdown problem.

Uninstalled other Outlook applications - This would include my most favorite application of all ClearContext.  The problem doesn’t seem to be tied to addons because I had the same result.

In fairness again, you should know that I have a second machine that I use for personal mail and it does not have this Second problem.  I don’t carry this machine up to the lake house so I have no idea if it has the first.

I have been in email contact with the Xobni support department on these issues and have tried multiple things believing that there may be a solution in place.   Support for the most part is quite responsive unfortunately they just can’t seem to figure out how to resolve these two showstopper issues for me.

So the bottom line for me is to periodically install the app and see if I am able to close down Outlook without either a C Runtime error or an Outlook error indicating that things didn’t close properly.  Once I consistently get shutdown happening then I will try it on the Satellite connection.

On a side note, even though I have these two problems I would encourage you to try Xobni if you haven’t.  The search capability is absolutely incredible, and the contact information and management is what Outlook should have done!

They just entered into open (non-invite) beta so the application is available to all.  (Make sure that if you experience either of my two problems that you let their support department know about it!!!)  You can see their press release here or better yet just go to the Xboni website and download it.

1. Shut off auto check
2. Pick off easy ones
3. Write less
4. Cheat
5. Be honest

When you are there you might also check out the little Related area just to the right of the article.  You will find a couple of other great nuggets of email productivity information there as well. 

Remember that email should be a tool that enables communication.  What I am finding in this day and age is that while people certainly communicate it is becoming ever more difficult to get things done as you read through the avalanche of email with useless, unnecessary communication. We’ve reached communication overload because it is so easy now.   Stay productive by incorporating a few of these useful tips.

I have noticed there have been a number of promotions on eBay lately trying to get people to list their items for sale.  I’m not sure that this is related to the general seller unrest that seems to be prevalent or simply eBay’s attempt to help stimulate listings due to soft economic conditions.  The bottom line really seems to be a matter of personal choice. 

My choice… I have nothing currently running on eBay and I’m not sure how long I will continue to NOT list.  I am trying out ewaey.com and I’ve dabbled with a couple of others.  What I really hope is that this general unrest will open the doors for these small guys to at least make a bit of headway into the online auction marketplace.  I’m a pretty firm believer in the concept that you don’t want to place all of your eggs into a single basket.  If you only list on eBay then you are tied to their every whim (fee increase, policy change, etc.).

So my questions to you if you are a seller:

• Are you a participant in the strike/boycott?
• What is your primary complaint with eBay?
• What alternatives are you using?

If you are a buyer:

• Have you noticed a decrease in listings?
• What are your thoughts on the eBay changes?
• What other online auction venues do you visit?

Leave a comment and let us know your thoughts.

As Earth Day (04/22) approaches, the city of Seattle is making the news with their announcement this month of a PLAN to begin taxing paper and plastic bags at grocery and convenience stores.  The plan calls for a $.20 cent tax on each bag that you use.  The idea being that with the money raised Seattle would be able to provide everyone in the city with a reusable grocery bag and perhaps other recycling programs.

I’m all for making the environment a better place for everyone but really $.20 for each bag you need?  Surely there must be a better plan that could be put into place.  I know when I head to the grocery store for my weeks worth of shopping the 1 bag that Seattle is going to give me isn’t going to even come close to what I need to get my groceries out of the store. And the reusable bags… our local grocery store charges somewhere in the neighborhood of $.99 for each of them.   For me not an issue - but what about those (think fixed income, and poor) that don’t have an extra buck laying around… not to mention an extra $10 or $15.  Every penny counts when you live paycheck to paycheck.

Why can’t we go down the road of personal choice instead of taxation?  Have the stores give me a rebate each time I bring my bags in for re-use.  $.20 seems rather extreme but even a few cents each time provides me with the incentive to bring them from home and to remember to bring them into the store when I get there.  Another tax is not the solution.  My current grocery store is doing this now and while I don’t know the success or how the program is funded I certainly made the choice to purchase the reusable bags.

Another question I have about this tax… who administers it?  Are they going to create a whole new department that has its set of overhead?  Perhaps that is why it needs to be $.20, they need to pay for the administration and enforcement of the program.   Not to mention the burden on the merchants for reporting, and payment.

Final question… you ever drive down the highway and notice how many pop cans, and beer bottles there are tossed out the window?  If you want to make a serious dent in recycling why doesn’t the state require (as other states do) a deposit on every bottle and can sold?  If you have to pay an extra $.60 for a six pack of beer you are much more likely to save the cans so that you can get your $.60 back… and if you don’t someone will.

"Green" is a great idea… but I think this tax goes too far too early in the "go green" mentality that is starting to make inroads not only with individuals but with corporate America.  Taxing people turns them off.  I don’t see this tax as doing anything different.

WordPress allows me to block this spam in a number of ways including Akismet (their spam filter plugin) and options to not post comments automatically but to wait until they have been approved by me.   Unfortunately, I do not have the time needed to review every piece of spam so Akismet has been a lifesaver for me.   I can periodically just load up my comments and see that Akismet has already flagged them as spam.   With one click they are gone and if I never do anything with them in 30 days they are automagically gone.

Bloggers beware…  If you are new to blogging you need to get yourself protected and sooner rather than later.  I found when I first started the blog that I very rarely received a piece of spam but now it can be literally a hundred or more in a weekend and as I continue to post additional content and opinion it just gives them that many more messages to latch onto.  Do yourself a favor, get your spam protection in place early!

If you have any problems with anything on the site please let me know and I will get it corrected as quickly as I can. You may have to search for a few things as I begin a major cleanup of Categories and Tags. As I’ve learned more about what I want to write about, my original structure just doesn’t make sense so you will see changes here as well.

Enjoy the blog!

Be kind to your heart.  Additional heart related information can be found at: The Heart Library (www.heartlibrary.com) become educated and help protect this vital organ!

At any rate, I decided that this year I was going to buy a telescope.  Now I didn’t want just any telescope but I also didn’t want to spend a ton of money to find out that I ended up so frustrated that I didn’t use it.  After doing some research I finally decided that I was going to purchase a used Meade ETX125.  It should be here any day.

Now for the help and recommendations.

1.  Good books that any beginning backyard atronomer should have in their library?

2.  Eyepieces - It will have a 2x Barlow and the standard 26mm eyepiece.  What else should I get?

3.  What do you think of the Meade CCD Camera?  I’m somewhat of a computer geek remember and thought the astro photography and video could be interesting.

4.  Autostar - tips, tricks and pointers?

5.  Is anyone using Winstars or other computer assistance to control your scope?  What are your thoughts?

Wish me luck.  I’m hoping for some first light this month but with our crappy spring snow and rain I’m guessing I will not have much luck.

There may be times over the weekend that the blog will be unreachable as I work through things.  I might even play with a new theme or two.  I’m finding that I’ve had a couple of comments about things being somewhat difficult to find so I might simplify.   I love 1Blog (my current theme) but if you aren’t using the features it doesn’t do any good to have them right?

Stay tuned… we’ll see what happens!