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The Bold BloggerCall me a mobile addict or anything else you can think of, it wont make me stop buying and trying new cell phones. |
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12/2/2008 The New Windows Live is Live!I actually thought I would be waiting longer for this MASSIVE update. This is definitely huge. I already took some time and played around with the updated Live Spaces to see what changed and what was added. Just like the screenshots we've seen recently on several blogs, the Windows Live Home has been totally revamped. Now, I can certainly make it my homepage since it's displaying recent updates from my friend's (plus there is more to it than just that). Windows Live Home can now be my portal to the internet when I first launch Internet Explorer. It will take some time to get used to the new interfaces and find my way around them but so far I am happy with the experience and I think I noticed an increase in performance as well. 11/22/2008 Tim Hortons is facing financial problems?
I was out with a friend tonight and after we watched a movie we went for a cup of coffee at Tim Hortons. When I went to pay a quick visit to the washroom I saw this. And NO, I didn’t take that picture while on the toilette! Now I know that each Tim Hortons branch is being maintained by the owner, but something like this really puts a bad image to the whole company. It’s quite rare (for me at least) to find evidence of bad and cheap maintenance at any Tim Hortons, but when I found this I couldn’t resist talking about it. Maybe that stick was just put there today temporarily, but it just proves that a simple wooden stick used to hold up a sink in one of the branches of a multi-billion dollar company can change the way a customer feels about that company. Oh and I doubt that Tim Hortons will ever face a financial problem. 11/21/2008 The Storm is ComingI don't think I will ever say that I regret getting my BlackBerry Bold because it's such a great device and I enjoy using it. But when I read all about the new BlackBerry Storm and especially its unique touch screen, I start to feel a bit jealous. Maybe if I waited a couple of more months before getting the Bold then I would be purchasing the Storm instead. But then again if it wasn't for the Bold I wouldn't have given any kind of interest in any BlackBerry. The Bold was the key that unlocked that BlackBerry door for me. I still would love to try out the new BlackBerry Storm, but my next phone upgrade is still very far away and I am sure by that time there will be other more exciting mobile devices out there. Windows Mobile 6.5 should be officially announced soon which means HTC will be busy manufacturing Windows Mobile devices next year as well as the next generation of Android phones (G2). The year 2008 was certainly dominated by Apple's iPhone and I think 2009 will most likely be overtaken by the next generation of Microsoft's Windows Mobile phones. Or at least I hope so. 11/19/2008 Flying with Windows Live for the HolidaysAfter several days of thinking out loud with the family we decided to go overseas to visit our relatives in Syria. Being that we are the only ‘Eltawil’ family in Canada, we had no option but to spend an arm and a leg to be with our relatives during the holidays. God, oh please god make it worth every penny! So, after it’s been confirmed, approved and given the green light, I sparked up my Windows Live Calendar and added in the necessary entries that represents my flight’s itinerary. It would’ve been awesome if my BlackBerry Bold gets the latest changes done to my Windows Live Calendar and syncs it with my BlackBerry’s calendar. But until that dream comes true, I have to enter the dates into my BlackBerry’s calendar manually…again. Usually whenever I travel anywhere out of town, I will eventually be forced (either by a friend, relative or most likely a family member running after me with a stick) to take a couple of pictures. Those pictures will eventually find their way on my Windows Live Spaces account either by sending them directly from my BlackBerry Bold using the built in camera or by uploading them from my digital camera directly into Spaces using the quick-n-easy upload tool. Since I like to blog often, I will be updating my Windows Live Spaces blog using (as always) my BlackBerry Bold. Like when I am on the way to the airport, checking in my luggage, waiting for my plane, entering the plane, sitting in the plane and getting yelled at by the flight attendant to shut off my BlackBerry while the plane is taking off. Yeah, somewhere along those lines, I will be definitely blogging about them. Compose email, type it and send it to my blog’s email. Voila! A new blog entry has been created and is almost instantly displayed on my blog. You wouldn’t even know it was written thousands of miles away from home (hopefully when I land safely)! Keeping track of my email using only PCs is something of the past. My phone will be with me and it will push any new email that arrives in my Windows Live Hotmail account to my BlackBerry Bold (or at least I hope it still does that overseas, if not, back to PCs I guess). Open email, read it, hit reply, type away and send. All from the comfort of a third world country café. Windows Live Contacts will definitely come in handy when I get introduced for the first time ever to the many (many many many) relatives I will meet in Syria. Adding their contact information into Windows Live Contacts will definitely provide a guarantee to me that I’ll be able to get back in touch with them and see what they’re up to on Windows Live Messenger. Let the video chatting begin! In the end, no matter how far or close your travels are during the holidays, Windows Live will always be right by your side. I mean, why else would I not use all the great and (I have to add) free services available that Windows Live provides? Plus, all services are well integrated together which makes passing data between services a breeze. And with all the exciting updates we’ve seen (and more coming soon), it makes more sense to continue using and fully experience Windows Live.
11/2/2008 Use Hotmail To Blog on Windows Live SpacesSo what do I do when I am away from my computer and want to blog? I pull out my BlackBerry Bold, start typing an email and send it to my blog. Moments later, the email is transformed into a blog entry on my Windows Live Spaces. It's simple and straight forward. Set up an email for your blog using the 'Blog Options' page on your Spaces account and that will be the primary email you use to send to whenever you need to create a new post on your blog. That's what I have been doing for a long time now when I am not near a computer and it certainly came in handy many times. Think of that email as a direct link to your blog and it's available only to you wherever you are. It's certainly one of the many convenient options available free of charge right under your fingertips from Windows Live Spaces. New Look for Windows Live Spaces Soon?With all the Windows Live face lifts lately I wonder if there is something in the works for Windows Live Spaces.
10/31/2008 Display Your Real Windows Live Messenger Status, PleaseHere is something that has been bothering me for a while. Actually it's been pissing me off and driving me nuts and please hear me out on this. Whenever I sign into Windows Live Messenger it means that I am on my computer, one hand over the mouse and the other in standby over my keyboard. So, in other word, I am there. I am ONLINE. I am NOT away or busy. Why? Cause I just signed in. How could it possibly be that I am away or doing anything else? It absolutely makes no sense to change my status IMMEDIATELY to 'Away' when I first sign in or even during the first couple of minutes after I signed in. So why on earth do people on my contact list immediately sign in with an 'Away' status? Didn't they just click on the sign in button just a second ago? It just makes no sense! This dilemma seems to be quite common with some of my contacts and I have to admit that it pisses me off. They either don't get it or are just, quite frankly, plain and simply retarded! I just can't imagine that those people don't understand what being 'Away' means. I never change my status to 'Away' unless, obviously, I am actually away from my computer. And if I was to be away as soon as I sign in, then why sign into Messenger in the first place? What's even worse and heck a lot more retarded is the fact that those people sign in, change their status to 'Away' and continue chatting. For god's sake please tell me what's going through that ill sick and retarded head of yours! Am I just making a big deal out of this or are there more sane people out there with a similar story? Get your Windows Live Messenger status right guys! For the love of god, have some internet ethics.
10/30/2008 So Many BlackBerry UsersDuring any break in the Microsoft TechDays event in Toronto I couldn't help but notice the vast amount of BlackBerry owners in the room. I was also surprised to see very few iPhone users (I can literally count them on one hand) . So is having a BlackBerry part of the whole 'being professional' package? Or is a BlackBerry the only answer to push email that professionals are most comfortable with and can trust and rely on when out of the office? I think I just answered my own questions. Whatever the reason those people may have for owning a BlackBerry, it certainly makes me proud for owning one. 10/28/2008 Microsoft TechDays is Tomorrow!Tomorrow is certainly going to be a very exciting day. The programming team (including yours truly) is going to Toronto tomorrow to attend the Microsoft TechDays event. There will be a lot to learn and numerous material to take home and read over. This is definitely one way to stay on top of technology, at least when it comes to our field of work. Seriously, we are trying to update our extremely outdated skills. So I should be packing up (shaving my head) and getting ready for the trip. I am not sure if I should bring my laptop with me but I am pretty sure I will have a notepad with me at all times throughout the event. But no matter what I will be bringing, there is no doubt about taking my BlackBerry Bold with me on this trip. 10/23/2008 Life with Windows Live OneCareMost people, like myself, live in a house with multiple computers. I have my personal laptop, my younger brothers share a computer running Windows Vista with multiple accounts in the living room, and my mother uses another PC in her bedroom. And since I am the one responsible in maintaining a wireless home network with sometimes more than 4 devices accessing the internet at once (including mobile devices), protection becomes a major issue. And that's where Windows Live OneCare comes to play. I can honestly tell you that I wouldn't trust any other software besides it. I wouldn't feel like a guy who is in total control of all computers running in my network without OneCare. What I love about it is how it just silently works in the background without interfering with your work or dramatically affecting your system's performance as most other PC protection software does. All I had to do is download the software and install it on every PC I have at home and then literally forget about it. I leave it to do what it does best: protect and maintain all my PCs. Windows Live OneCare scans and gets rid of viruses, cleans your system, increases performance, as well as give you the option of backing up your data periodically and a lot more. When I subscribed with OneCare using my Windows Live ID, I was able to make my laptop the main hub for monitoring all other PCs that I added to my OneCare subscription. I then get notified immediately on my laptop whenever one of the PCs needs an update, cleanup, backup, or any task that needs to run in order to eliminate any sort of risk. The feature that I love the most is Printer Sharing. If one of the PCs under my OneCare is hooked to a printer, that printer can be accessible to all other PCs! There is absolutely no need to buy a network printer or a special router to hook up your printer to the network. OneCare on my laptop automatically detected a printer in my network and installed it. Now I can use my laptop to type out a document and wirelessly print it to a printer that is hooked to a computer sitting in the living room. I don't know about you, but I think that's just awesome! Switching to Windows Live OneCare a year ago is certainly one of the best decisions I have made and is definitely something I am proud of. I encourage you to give it a try and see for yourself how fast, easy, and convenient the software is. All it takes is a couple of mouse clicks for true peace of mind.
10/21/2008 The Problem is You and not the BlackBerry BoldYou know what? I am sick and tired of reading about some Bold owners complain about the device's battery life. Whether you're on the official BlackBerry Support Forums or over at CrackBerry.com Forum, you'll come across people who just can't stop complaining about the Bold's battery life. Ever since I bought my Bold from Rogers Wireless a couple of weeks ago, I was able to use it for 3 days straight before the device even started asking to be recharged. So what exactly are those users doing on their BlackBerry Bold that requires them to charge it sometimes twice a day? Here is my advice: buy a freakin' computer! Stop using your cellphone for the wrong reasons. So what if it's a smartphone? It still doesn't mean that it replaces your laptop or your home PC. I constantly use my BlackBerry Bold to blog, browse the web for the latest news, maybe check out a couple of YouTube videos every once in a while and I still manage to get through 3 days on a single charge. But that doesn't mean I completely forgotten about my laptop and was satisfied with just using my BlackBerry. I try as much as I can not to waste my BlackBerry's battery on stuff that can wait till I get my hands on a PC. Smartphones aren't there to replace your computer. If you're home and using your BlackBerry Bold to surf and chat online, then maybe you should jump on your computer instead. Stop blaming the device and start becoming more aware of how much you use it and for what reasons.
10/20/2008 Windows Live for BlackBerryThings has never been easier when it comes to blogging on my Windows Live Space. And using the convenient QWERTY keyboard to blog directly from my BlackBerry Bold is something I am highly proud of. To get a copy of Windows Live Messenger for your BlackBerry, go to www.blackberry.com/livemessenger.
10/17/2008 Blog Title, Time for a Change?I don't think I have ever spent more than 5 minutes thinking of a title for my blog and 'Mobile Visionary' somewhat speaks for itself in terms of creativity. So this time I DO want to be more creative and hopefully the title sticks around longer before I get bored again and decide to go for another change. Therefore, expect a new name, possibly a new theme, and a new personality for my blog very soon. Why buy magazines?I used to buy a couple of magazines every month a few years ago and I kind of made that a habit. Anyone who walks into my room will usually find a big stack of magazines lying next to my bed. But I noticed that I haven't bought a magazines in months. You ask why? I've got one word for ya: Internet. All the magazines I bought are computer or mobile related. Anything that deals with both computer hardware or software was something I am interested to read about. In addition, anything that deals with mobile computing was a rising interest. But all the information and articles I read in those magazines I can find online on some blog or website. So why waste my money? All I needed was a laptop near my bed for a quick access to all computer related news on the net. Now, you've got all sort of mobile optimized websites to work perfectly well with your cellphone. So technically, I don't even need a laptop. All I need is my phone, and that's always fully charged beside my bed. I think magazine sales will be highly affected as everything paper is becoming digital and mobile technology is blooming. That being said, the coming years will certainly show a mobile revolution. 10/16/2008 New Look for Windows Live HotmailIt didn't surprise me to see a new face to Windows Live Hotmail since I have been reading and hearing news about a total make over for the free service. I have to admit that I like the new look. It certainly matches the same look on the Windows Live Calendar beta service the Live team revealed a couple of months ago so I was already familiar with the new color scheme. There is a lot more to the new interface than just a new look. There is a couple of new features added to the service that makes emailing easier and customizing your inbox a lot more flexible. That being said, check out the new Windows Live Hotmail yourself today. I am sure you'll be impressed. |
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