A Very Samsung Summer

It’s been a Samsung kind of month here at the castle. First it was the Galaxy Tab. Then we added a Samsung refrigerator. Finally, we ended up buying a second Samsung TV. Why did we need another TV? Well, our second daughter has started a job in Chanute, Kansas as an assistant basketball coach. She […]

From Uber-Geek to…Corporate Wonk?

It is always good to see when talent is rewarded. So many of us began our careers very humbly. I started my career by building my own PC. [When I started, you were forced to solder them yourself. And most folks were using CP/M (from Digital Research).] Still others gained their notoriety by being public […]

Me and My Tablet

It’s been twenty-one days since I bought my Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 device. And in that time, the tab and I have been through a lot. We’ve had to replace the Zagg screen protector twice. We’ve shared a firmware upgrade (courtesy of the talented Samsung support team). We’ve even solved a DHCP problem with a […]

Bouncing Between Various Quanta of Activity

It has been an amazingly hectic week.  And today has epitomized the chaos that I’ve felt.  This week has seen a lot: We got back from vacation (which was really just a long weekend).  But we have been struggling to re-integrate into our normal routines. The man who enticed me to leave my previous job […]

I’ve Upped the Ante – My Increasing Android Investment

Android has been my smartphone OS for almost a year.  And it has served me quite well.  But it has its limitations on a smartphone.  The limitations are many.  And some of them are even noteworthy.  But my biggest challenge with my smartphone is that it is a wholly inadequate platform for writing notes and […]

Welcome Back My Friends…

…to the show that never ends. Last weekend was exciting – and frustrating.  Seven days ago, I decided that I needed to switch to a different ROM on my phone.  I loved Liberty GB.  But about a month ago, it lost all of its momentum.  Daily builds had dried up.  And there was no sustainable […]

Using Android to Remotely Control Media Playback

It’s interesting to see how mobile devices can be used for the oddest little tasks.  My Android phone can do a lot.  It can run all sorts of network apps.  And the latest app I’ve picked up is a remote control tool for the VideoLAN VLC media player. When you think about it, there isn’t […]

Naming Your Phone Ain’t Easy

  This week has been hectic at work and hectic at home.  When there weren’t too many things to be done, there were hugely important little things that needed to be addressed. This ain’t either one of those! 🙂 Like a lot of other geeks and music freaks, I’ve been fiddling with Spotify.  I’ll post […]

Making Your Phone YOUR Phone

After waiting a very long time for Verizon to release a Gingerbread ROM for my Droid 2 phone, I started hearing that this might not happen until the third or fourth quarter of the year – if ever.  I appreciate Verizon’s position.  They want to ensure that their new Android devices (with Gingerbread or Honeycomb) […]

Platform Pivot Possibilities

Anyone who has read my musings before already knows that I have loved technology for a very long time. You are also aware that I’ve used many different forms and flavors of technology. The list of operating systems is quite long. On the server side, I’ve used: Univac Exec 8, IBM MVS, IBM VM/ESA, IBM […]