ATT's mobile phone insurance polices and my w580i

Alright, this post is a rant and a rave. First the story. I had a Sony Ericsson w600i phone. Really liked the phone. Loved the features, the range, pretty much everything. It had some draw backs (as with anything), but the only one that really sticks in my mind is the phone's OS is... well... fragile. Especially when attaching/removing the connections to it (whether it be power, USB, hands free set). In changing "modes", sometimes it would not recover. During those times I would have to turn off the phone and "reboot" it. Well, one day during a disconnect from the recharging cable, it would not come out of "optimized charging" mode and I "rebooted". Alas, that was the wrong procedure. The phone (as my German friend puts it), went kaput. Mind you this happened TWICE! The first time was the 3 months into owning the phone and it was under warranty. Called up Cingular (before the merger), and they happily sent me a new phone complete with the box. Then it happened again last Saturday. Now for the rant part about ATT's mobile device insurance.

Well, I was obviously out of warranty on the phone (even this being the second one). Luckily, I had the insurance for $5 a month. So my wife called this time to get the phone replaced and finds out that the w600i has been discontinued. They will replace the phone (for a $50 deductible no less), but will be sending a comparable phone. What they send is the Samsung SYNC. I get the phone and notice there is no data cable or any accessories. So I call.

After the normal run around, I finally get a guy from the "insurance" company (and for the life of me I cannot remember the company's name). I tell him about the data cable, that I was fine with the replacement phone accept for that.

His only response was "I am not authorized to handle that at this level".

I asked "What does that mean?"

Again, "I am not authorized to handle that at this level".

So I venture, "So does that mean I need to speak to a supervisor? If so, bounce this up."

His supervisor gets on and says she cannot send me a data cable for the SYNC, but can offer me the Sony Ericsson w580i instead. I ask if it has data cable or compatible with my old ones. She does not know. So I ask to think about it. I do some research and find they are compatible, so I call back and ask them to send it to me.

Here is the kicker. The Samsung SYNC is a far inferior phone to the w580i and to the w600i. The insurance company was trying to get off as cheaply as they could. If not for my persistence and griping about having the same functionality as before (with the data cable included), I would have had to spend the insurance at $5/mo (at this point over $60), the $50 deductible, plus the cost of the data cable. Guess what, the new w580i had all the cables, all the accessories and is compatible with the old ones from the 600! Now for the rave part.

I love the PHONE! The w580i is like the 600, but a 1.75x better version of it. It has all the older features, but upgraded, plus several new ones. The streaming music, the streaming internet radio, the shuffle by shake on the MP3, the pedometer, the upgraded camera. I could go on and on and on. I love the new sleek design (a lot thinner than the w600i) and the fact I can increase the SIMM card (the old phone is static at 256 MB). The only draw back is there is not much memory on the phone itself for storing MP3's out of the box, you need a SIMM (and it does not come with one). Here is a link to the phone.

All and all, I should have expected the deal with ATT's insurance. However, I am balanced by how cool the phone is!

Casting for PodCasts

Just about every morning, at lunch, and sometimes in the evening, I take a bike ride or a walk. Now, I do this for the exercise (being overweight you have too, especially if you like to eat like I do, so you don't grow in an outward fashion). That said, being busy with work and personal hobbies, I have found I can take downloads of podcasts and audiobooks in my MP3 player and listen while exercising. Now, my wife says I should not do this, I should relax while exercising. This is how I relax was my response!

But on the serious side, I thought of this awhile back when getting my MBA. I hated driving to and from school. I felt it was a waste of my time when I could be studying, working, personal hobbies, etc. At the time there was not a bus service from my residence or at the times I needed. Attempts to get my text books in audio format were shakey at best. Most publishers would only offer the most popular books on audio (I tried asking about visually handicap patrons, but they said most texts could be provided in braille). That leads to another related experience.

While at college, there was an English professor that was blind. He would have all the students turn in their papers on disk in the WordPerfect format (text editor that is all but gone). His computer had a program that would read the "text" for him. This was several years ago, now there are several products that will do the same thing within Windows. That given, we could read text files on the fly using a device like this, so how hard would it be to read the text and have a "batch" process that records them to an audio file?

The last bit of this post leads to something I found a month or so ago. My public library has recently decided to subscribe certain electronic versions of books that patrons can download for a limited reading on their home PCs. My company, likewise, subscribes to books24x7 (and on a side note, I do not like the interface for books24x7). This leads me to believe that most publishers have their books/texts/articles in electronic format (makes sense, they have probably had it for years). If so, they could be "read" and recorded.

I also found some information that show some progress that ATT Labs did for Text To Speech (TTS). Along with some wikipedia entries here and here. My thought was to take a Java based TTS and incoporate it with the J2ME of a mobile device. To bad in my research, none of the TTS packages will not run on J2ME. For example, one from Sun and the FreeTT.
Now, you could record the books on the server and send the audio file to the device, but that is way more bandwidth, than if you sent a straight text file. You could also use it to read SMS text if you were converting right on the mobile device.

So, why aren't books being recorded this way? I know one draw back is the voice. That robot on proziac voice is not very pleasant to listen to, but newer versions of the voice software can be configured to more human like speech. Think about it. Audio on demand of books, articles, technical papers, novels, etc. I think it would be a great productivity boost so we can multi-task while commuting, exercising, etc. You could hook up your TTS-internet enabled mobile device to an FM transmitter, and have "my news channel" while you drive.

I probably let out one of my best ideas, but since I would like to see this developed for my own edification, here world, this one is a freebie!

The mornings are the best!

I have to say, the morning is the best. Breakfast. Hot Coffee. Eggs and turkey bacon. Mmmmm. The laptop out on the lanai, with a kraft of Java. Nice...

I have friends that are technology enthusiasts (whether by hobby or trade) that nix-a on the mornings. They stay up way too late to enjoy it is all. I just got to say it is my most productive for slinging code at work, or working up new ideas (I tend to like to write at night however).

Some of the best things about mornings:
1.) You get to start a brand new day!
2.) You have the full day ahead of you with endless possibilities.
3.) BREAKFAST (if you ever notice, it is the cheapest of all meals, both at home and out).
4.) COFFEE! Some good, make your hair grow, make your brain crawl out your ear and do laps Java, fresh brewed!
5.) The cool air for exercising!
6.) Watching the sun come up!
7.) Lastly, knowing it lasts until 11:59 AM.

Needless to say, I like the morning!

Rebuilt at the edge of old age - boomers to bionic

Is Florida a fluke, or is the rest of the country like this... Baby Boomer women being rebuilt between 45 to 65. I know in the midwest where I am from they were not like that. Here... they seem to all have the bionic boobies and booties, and the face lift. The only way you can tell is the hands. They tend to have the "veins" or "wrinkles" in them. Not only are they biologically rebuilt, they get new wardrobes.

As for the new wardrobes, they tend to wear the hoochy momma outfits, stuff they would never let their daughters wear when they were 16. Am I wrong? Look around sometime at an out door cabana bar. You get the "rich biker momma" that is the doctor's, lawyer's, biz owner's trophy wife on a $60-90K Hawg (b/c normal people cannot afford those bikes any more).

I will get on the soap box in a later blog, but this a prelude to how I think the Baby Boomers have ROBBED this country. The best line I have heard is this, "Why dislike the Baby Boomers? Four decades of lying around suckling off the fat from past and future generations, while having the nads to sanctimoniously condemn materialism and greed!"

Chasing the Dragon

I am not looking to find the end of corporate existence, but I have to say this. You ever heard the term "chasing the dragon"? It refers to drug use. It means that once you get high, you tend to look for the next high. However, you start to need more and more to get that same high (or more as you crave it). The song "Mr. Brownstone" has a line "A little used to do it, but a little got more and more".

Well technology is like that. You have to learn new stuff to stay on top. Not only that, you have to learn more and more to stay on top. It evolves while it changes and is additive. So the expanse of what you need to know to be "good" gets more and more. Is anyone else tired of "chasing the dragon"?

I think this is part of the root of my dissatisfaction with being a corporate technologist. It used to be what drew me. Now... it is almost a curse. Don't get me wrong, I love being on the cutting edge, but I find myself being drawn to family and friends, rather than sitting in a chair like a troll 16 hours a day. Something will give, but will it be me or the way I look at it?