Cool Tech - Internet Everywhere

I'm writing this from my $300 PalmOne Zire 72, typing on my $75 PalmOne infrared keyboard (both from http://palmone.com), connected via bluetooth to my Sony Ericsson T610 (http://sony.com), using, or should I say wasting minutes from my T-Mobile (http://tmobile.com) plan. But, that's where the spending ends, I swear.

For those of you requiring POP e-mail, my dirty secret ends for you here. But, if you want AIM, and internet access, and blogging from anywhere, this is probably the most cost-effective way you can do it.

PalmOne's standard Zire 72 package comes with a web browser and e-mail program (in case you find an smtp host on a non-standard port, and I'm told that http://no-ip.com provides a service that lets you get around a blocked port 25), but you'll still need an AIM program and a blogging program. AOL's standard US AIM program costs about $20, but the British version (http://www.aol.co.uk/aim/), although pretty much featureless, works fine on American soil, and is totally free. For blogging, HBlogger (http://www.normsoft.com/hblogger/), the software that this was written on) provides a free, unlimited demo that works on just about every blogging site, including many scripts you might use with your webhost.

But, you're still wondering, what about the ISP? You have to pay for that, right? Wrong! There exist several free dial-up ISPs. Most of them are local to a certain area, but with free long distance from T-Mobile, that's not a problem. I use two such companies regularly. Free Dial-Up (http://freedialup.org) is the fastest and most reliable, but I also use NoCharge (http://nocharge.com) for backup.

So, if you're looking for portable internet on a budget, it can be done.

Happy internetting,

Gabe

[Posted from my palm]

Goals and Topics

Listening to: Alice's Restaurant - Arlo Gunthrie


I know this is going to be hard to handle; it always is. But, I'm 16, I live in Denver, and my name is Gabe. I'm interested in politics, technology (among a thousand other things), and this is where I hope you'll enjoy discussing some of those topics with me.

I think you should know a few things about me: I'm an Apple Macintosh junkie, and I'm generally a democrat. For those of you wanted to flame me for being a Mac user, whatever. Haven't we all had enough of that? Just like you, I'm sure I can enjoy the spread of awesome technology, without having to handle being flamed. As for political discussion, flame away. I can handle it, but keep in mind - I will not tolerate pure name-calling. You've got to have some decent facts behind what you say. For those of you prone to that kind of idiotic behavior, consider the definition of 'discussion'. It's not about being right and wrong, it's about reaching some sort of shared concensus on an issue, and I think that's what the main goal of this blog is going to be.

I think we should all be aware that this country's political movement is at an absolute, bloody standstill. The political discussion used to be about having fun - now, people on all sides have been brainwashed into believing that they are always right. If a fact disagrees with there opinion, it's a "left-wing" fact or a "right-wing" fact spewed by the "left" or "right" media. And worse, if a person disagrees, they're a long string of (insert explative here).

Let's put an end to all of that here and now. From now on, a fact is a fact, a person is a person. If they disagree, great! That's more for us to build our own experience on. Politics should be about both sides building to create an America that everybody wants, not today's partisan polarizing game. So that's what this blog is going to try and accomplish, at least to a minor degree.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you become active in the discussion. Of course, you can always chat with me on AIM: potterhead44, or e-mail me at gabe@comcast.net.

Thanks again,

Gabe