Drops of Awesome

Personal Blog of Author Kathryn Thompson

Technology

Lego Batman – The Career Path

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Magoo recently told me that he wants to be Batman when he grows up. I can only assume he means Lego Batman because that’s the only version of the super hero he’s really been exposed to. He was real coy and shy about it. He said he wants to save people.

“When Bad Guys go into their houses at night, I’ll just go in there and say, ‘Wake up Bad Guys! I’m gonna take yeh to jail.’”

So, I guess the Bad Guys just go into people’s houses at night to find a place to sleep but since they are BGs and also trespassers, that earns them a trip to the joint.

I decided to use a teaching moment and explain that what I like about Batman is the fact that he doesn’t hurt good people and he doesn’t even kill bad people most of the time. He wants to help so he just ties the bad guys up and lets the police deal with them.

“Yeah,” Magoo replied looking thoughtful, “But I don’t even have a hat yet.”

Lesson learned.

We were sitting in the Safeway food court the other afternoon slamming some corn dogs when Magoo noticed some slightly-swarthy farmer-types sitting at a table next to us. He eyed them suspiciously.

“Are there any bad guys in Our City?” he asked, never taking his eyes off the farmers.

“Yeah,” I replied honestly, “There probably are.”

“No,” he said simply, “Bad Guys are only in Bad Guy Town.”

I might add that they are also made of Lego.

Palm Pre Plus – Too Soft For This Goldilocks

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Almost everything about the Palm Pre Plus is cooler than my previous phone, the HTC Touch Pro running Windows Mobile. I thought my phone was the hotness. I thought my phone was the greatest thing ever. The Pre is hotter. The Pre is the greaterest thing ever.
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The hardware design is sleek and lovely. The OS looks and feels fabulous. After a brief learning curve I was able to pick up all the gestures and navigational tricks and I grew to really enjoy the interface. It can do cool things like navigate with Google Maps and it can act as a mobile WiFi hotspot, serving up to 5 other devices with wireless internet – very cool for a long roadtrip.

pre 051 (2)The problem is that although it’s cuter, prettier and faster than my stolen phone, it just doesn’t do everything I’ve come to expect. While I was trying it out, I kept saying, “But it’s so cute. Why can’t it do X?” or, “I want this to be my phone if only it could…”

The Pre works with Microsoft Exchange so it syncs my calendars and contacts, which is great. However, the calendar functionality is limited. There are little things that have come to be very important to me that you cannot do on a Pre calendar. The most critical problem for me is that I can’t add attendees to a calendar appointment. Whenever I’m out and about and make a new appointment, I add Dan as an attendee and the event goes to all of our phones and calendars within minutes. This makes family planning (not that kind) very easy and I feel like I need it, although “need” is a funny word.
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Another downside to the Pre is that there is currently no way to edit documents. It comes with a document viewer installed and on the Dataviz website, there’s a page saying that a fully functional document editor will be released early in 2010. But it’s April and that’s a deal breaker for me.

pre 055 (2)Dataviz has document editing apps for every other phone and its dog but not for the Pre. And therein lies the rub. Not many people are designing apps for the Pre. Palm is up for sale so its future is uncertain. I’m sure developers don’t want to pour resources into creating apps for an OS that may be off the market shortly. They’re putting their eggs into the basket of Apple and Google and hopefully Microsoft when their new (supposedly groundbreaking) Windows Phone 7 gets released later this year.

Because we’re so entangled with Microsoft, I was hoping my previous phone would get me through until the release of The Windows Phone Hotness but with my phone gone, I need to get something now.

I wanted it to be Palm. I loved the Pre. But this Goldilocks, like my burglarific predecessor, has very specific needs and is moving on to the next bowl of porridge.

If you’re looking for a smart phone that’s beautiful, sleek, easy to use and well-designed that doesn’t have a lot of gadgets and apps but has great web-browsing and simple personal calendaring, take the Pre out for a spin.

This week I’m exploring the world of <DROID>. The <> around DROID indicates that I’m saying it like a robot. Say it with me. It’s fun.

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In this case, I’m borrowing phones to try out and then I plan to purchase the one I like best.

Command Center Breach

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While we were on vacation in Utah my cell phone disappeared. “Oh,” you might think, “That’s a shame. Good thing it was just a cell phone.” The problem is it was not just a cell phone. That little black brick was our family’s Mobile Command Center. Since 2006 I’ve used it and its older brother before it to keep track of and control nearly every aspect of our family’s lives.

I’m currently using my sister’s old Razor and although it’s very cute and I’m really grateful to borrow it, it’s missing a few of the things that I’ve come to feel are necessary in a Mobile Family Command Center. Here is a partial list:

-Auto-sync calendaring connecting my phone calendar with my home calendar and Dan’s work, phone and home calendars

-A complete list of every contact I may ever need with their phone numbers and addresses included that auto-syncs over the air waves as soon as I update it

-Documents and spreadsheets of just about any piece of information I could want

-Full-text scriptures

-Internet access

-All kinds of applications that do all kinds of things I don’t really need but have learned to depend on.

-Email

-Cool personal ringtones for all my family members and friends

-A slide-out qwerty keyboard for text messaging

-Navigation

-Digital UNO

Don’t forget the fact that I feel kind of violated that someone is walking around with pictures and video of my kids I don’t have backups for, all of my recipes, emails and a lot of personal information.

When we realized it was really gone, like gone gone, like obvious-someone-had-pocketed-it gone, Dan sent out a command to do a remote wipe of all my data from the phone. We got a message back saying the wipe was successful when someone turned the phone on at about 4:30am the morning after it disappeared so that gives me comfort.

Now I’ve got my Razor and a paper calendar that I’m madly filling in with all my info from outlook and I feel so old-school. Remember this? At that point I had just begun my dive into techno-mom-dom. I’m really quite dependent now and I’m actively seeking a new phone.

The PR people from Verizon asked me a while ago if I wanted to try out a few of their smart phones and possibly review them. Now that I’m actually considering which phone to buy I think that’s a great idea so for the next several weeks I’ll be trying out some cool new devices and if I find anything worth telling, I’ll let you know.

My breached Command Center was an HTC Touch Pro from Verizon running Windows Mobile. In our area we get much better reception with Verizon than our friends who have other providers. The customer service has always been decent and most of our family members use Verizon so calls to them are free.

I have to say I was not uber impressed with the customer service we got when I lost my phone. For one thing, they could not perform a remote data wipe or track the phone’s GPS. For another, the guy at the call center told me that if the phone were turned in, they had no system in place for finding me and returning it based on the phone’s serial number. Through further investigation I found out that this was false. A kid named Dean in the West Valley store told me that they always do their best to get returned phones back to their rightful owners.

They were also unable to reactivate my service to my new/used phone until the following day because we had already deactivated, reactivated and deactivated the stolen phone that day and there is a hard-coded limit on the number of times you can do that. Apparently no supervisor has the power to override this so I was phoneless on vacation for a full day. I know, WAAAH, right? Still, it seemed strange to me and no one could give a good explanation as to why the policy was in place.

Still, we’re fairly loyal to Verizon and to phones that can play nice with Outlook. So, I’m on the hunt. Any suggestions?

Yes… And

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Last weekend, I took a young woman friend of mine into Seattle to have lunch with Nintendo, that nebulous Mario-ridden empire of a company, some women and girls doing amazing mentoring work in the community, and stylist Jennifer Rade. It was a fun mix of people talking about goals, games, fashion and eating chocolate calzones. We had a blast.
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As part of their promotion for their Style Savvy game for the DS, Nintendo asked Jen, who does not want to be pigeonholed as a celebrity stylist although she’s dressed Angelina Jolie and pretty much every famous person for pretty much every event known to man, to come and speak about her journey in the fashion industry.

They invited Powerful Voices, a Seattle-based group that mentors young girls, to come hear her speak and eat some great food at a pizza restaurant (I try to avoid using the term Pizzeria because of what it rhymes with.) that was transported all the way from Italy. They actually took apart an Italian pizza joint, shoved the pieces in a storage container, shipped them here and reassembled them. When I told Dan about the place, he laughed and asked why they had to bring the actual restaurant here. I told him that they brought it here so I didn’t have to go to Italy and leave him alone with the kids for 2 days while I went out for lunch.

Nintendo event 014Jen was fascinating to listen to. Her life path and mine are so completely different and she had so many great stories and experiences to share. She really has worked with everyone and done just about everything a costume designer/stylist can do.

I often worry about being pigeonholed in my fledgling writing career. Kathryn Thompson, the blogger, Kathryn Thompson, the children’s author, Kathryn Thompson, the non-fiction writer. This fear keeps me from branching out because I worry that if I find big success in one genre, I’ll have a hard time being taken seriously in another and I have a wide range of interests.

Nintendo event 009Jen is a testament to the power of hard work and never taking no for an answer. When people tell her she can’t do something, she just sees it as a challenge and works to prove them wrong. I really liked that, along with her down-to-earth nature. She also has a theory that I love and that has served me well in my life, although I’ve never given a name to it. She calls it “Yes… and.”

The basic idea is that when someone asks you if you can do something, you respond with, “Yes… and,” and then blow them away with all you’re capable of, opening up all kinds of doors for future success. I totally agree. Doing the bare minimum and hoping to be noticed will not get you very far in your career or in life. Next time you’re looking for some growth and adventure, try responding with a, “Yes…and,” and see what happens.

As part of the celebration for Powerful Voices, my favorite Nintendo executives and PR people surprised each attendee with her own DSi and a copy of Style Savvy. My date and I got one too. Yippee! I have to tell you that I bought the DS with birthday money last year, thinking the DSi wasn’t worth the extra money but now that I have both, the DS is feeling a bit lame in comparison. I gave it to Dan and I’m feeling some serious jealousy coming from his direction.
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Mine can surf the web, take and edit pictures, download games directly to the device, and best of all make little flip-notes animated videos. I love this because it’s a way to feed my kids’ digital addictions while forcing them to be creative. And I was not expecting to ever play Style Savvy, having given up playing dress-up with Barbies many moons ago. However, they had us try it out at the lunch and the game is stupidly addictive. I’ve never played Farmville but I’ve seen the hold it has on people and as far as I can tell, this game is like Farmville for fashion, except you don’t send out updates to all of your friends and family members every time you unlock something new so everyone doesn’t have to know just how much time I spend “building my business” and stocking my store.

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Wii Wii Wii All the Way Home

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**As of December 2010 I no longer have ties to Nintendo besides that I enjoy and purchase their products.**
Alert, alert. I’m so excited. The Wii is soon going to be able to stream Netflix movies directly from the game console. I’ve been hoping for this development for months because although it’s fun to watch streaming movies huddled around our small computer monitor, I’d prefer the comfort of the family room couch. They announced the development this morning and I already know about it because I’m a “Nintendo Enthusiast.”

I’ve been loving and periodically blogging about the Wii since I got it for Christmas 2 years ago in one of Dan’s greatest gift-giving coups ever. We take care of it and feed it all of the games and accessories it needs and it keeps us entertained. Right before Christmas this year, Nintendo contacted me about becoming an Enthusiast. The terms are vague. There is no contract. Basically it means that I keep loving Nintendo and they periodically invite me to things and send me free stuff if they can find any games we have not already purchased. (They had a hard time doing this for Christmas.) I’m sure they’re pleased when I write about Nintendo but it’s not required. I like this arrangement.

The one event we’ve attended so far was a holiday party at a local retirement home for seniors where Laylee and I got a chance to play games “with the grandmas” and then the retirement home got a free Wii and a bazillion games. It was a great experience for both of us.

Anyway. There’s my full disclosure. Prior to Christmas of this year I wrote about Nintendo because I’ve loved them since I was in elementary school and have spent a bucket-load of money on their products. After Christmas of this year, if I write about Nintendo it’s because I love them and am spending a bucket-load of money on their products. They also sometimes send me free games and press releases now. The End.

Anyway, if you have a Wii and a Netflix membership, you can go and reserve the game disc that will allow you to stream videos by following this link. www.netflix.com/Wii Happy Streaming!

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Machines That Rule the World

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Laylee continually finds new ways to boss Magoo around. Today they were playing in the ship they made and she told him to steer to the left. “No. I’m going this way,” he said, which was funny because he doesn’t know right from left. He just resented being told what to do. They picked at each other for a minute when Laylee finally said, “You have to go left because I said so and I’m the GPS.”

She’s smart enough to know who wears the pants around here, who has absolute and total power and control over our lives. It’s Diane, our GPS. She says, “Go right,” and we darn well go right. She says “Continue 3.5 miles,” and we continue. Sometimes she has to recalculate because we, in our incompetency, make a wrong move, but she always sets us straight with new directions.

“Okay,” Laylee continued to the acquiescent Magoo, “Turn left. Now keep right for 2 point miles. Now turn right and arrive at destination on left.”

Magoo continued to follow her directions.

“You know what a destination is? It’s the place you want to go.”

The place who wants to go? Huh, Laylee? If a GPS can boss Mom and Dad around, then the sky’s the limit really.

“I’m the GPS. Go get me a drink and polish my shoes peasant boy.”

That’s Seriously Your PIN?!

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Dan is a digital security freak. I cannot overemphasize the security measures he puts in place electronically to make sure our data is safe, backups, double, triple, quadruple backups, kept in different cities on various servers.

The most amazing though are his passwords. Dan loves beautiful rock-solid passwords. Passwords with letters don’t even qualify as passwords. Passwords with letters and numbers are for sissies, losers, amateurs and people who enjoy having their identity stolen. No. Dan’s passwords use letters, numbers and symbols in ways that are incomprehensible to me.

Sometimes when he sets me up for a new account of some kind, he’ll hand me a password that looks like this: g3Tg0!nG@NddAn$5

“How am I supposed to remember that?” I’ll ask incredulously because I know that writing it down on a sticky note next to the computer is not a viable option.

“It says ”˜get going and dance 5.’” Like, duh!

I nod and smile. Yeees. Yeees of course. The dancing. I’ll totally remember it now.

So we were in Costco the other day when Dan went to pay for the groceries with his debit card. I looked over as he entered his pin and my mouth dropped open in surprise.

“That’s seriously your PIN?! Really?!”

Time sort of froze.

Dan looked up embarrassed, an uneasy smile frozen on his face.

The cashier and the cart-loader tried unsuccessfully to stop their giggles.

And I just stared at him. “Really?!”

“What?” He asked sheepishly.

“Did they assign you that PIN or did you seriously come up with that yourself?! Honestly?”

Then I noticed the eyes watching us and I decided it would be best to talk to him later alone away from the giggling school girl Costco employees.

Outside, I started up again, “How could someone like you pick 7777 as his PIN NUMBER?!”

“That’s not my PIN,” he smiled sheepishly.

“I saw you do it.”

“No. I wiggle my fingers around to mask what I’m really typing when I enter my PIN. I can’t believe it actually worked. Awesome.”

Yes. Awesome indeed. Don’t you feel safer just reading the blog of someone whose husband is such a master of trickery and security? I wish I’d been right, though. He never would have lived that one down.

In Mourning

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I’ve been struggling with a stomach bug this past week and recently its friend the head and chest cold came to join the party so I pretty much feel like pathetic death on toast.

But worse than that, my laptop experienced a hardware failure and has been gutted and shipped off to the computer hospital for emergency surgery. I weep for it. I crave it’s closeness. I find myself in mourning.

Out of respect for my injured friend and due to the earth-shattering plague rocking my body systems, I may not be blogging for a while. But like the terminator I will be back eventually and for the time being I’ll blog at least once a week over at parenting with a link here to my musings.

Today I wrote about time. Laylee’s recently learned how to tell time and our lives will never be the same again. [click to read more at Parenting]

When we put my laptop, let’s call him Timmy, to rest in his Fedex casket, we needed to trim some of the shipping materials for a better fit. Magoo took the leftover pieces and fashioned them into some sort of weapon laser thing. When he was done with it, he left it on my bathroom vanity. Do you think it’s a sign? Because it’s sort of creeping me out.

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Facebook Apps Are Scary

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I will come out right now and just say it – Facebook Apps freak me out. I just denied a request from my sister to say we were related on an app. I’ll shout it from the rooftops. I AM SISTERS WITH MEG! But I will not add the “family tree” application to my Facebook page. Not a bit. Her request was denied.

Do you want me to be one of your “best girls,” kill a zombie with you, throw a pumpkin at your neck, join a group to remove the mayor of Anaconda, MT from office, or take a quiz to show how similar we are so we can take our kindred spiritness to the next level? I’m sorry but I just can’t do it anymore.

I’ve done it a couple of times and then I’m always left wondering, “Is that app harvesting all of my personal information for nefarious purposes, the pure wicked evilness of which I cannot yet imagine?”

So now I just hit “deny” every time. It’s not because I don’t like you or think your purple roses to help fight toenail cancer aren’t noble and attractive, I just don’t want to be harvested by the aliens or whoever it is that creates all these apps in the first place.

Sorry mom. I’m still your daughter. I just won’t declare it in a Facebook app.

I also refuse to claim my 1,000,000 inheritance from my long lost Uncle in Sri Lanka. There’s just too much risk to these ventures. I’ve seen Dateline. I know.

PopStar Guitar Review and Giveaway

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***The winner is commenter number #56, Diane.***

Are any of you out there closet gamers? I’ve spent my whole life sort of mocking gamers, gently mocking because I know and love many of them, but mocking nonetheless. Now I’ve had the Wii for a year and I am totally nerd-a-liciously in love with it.

popstarBut it’s an expensive little guy to feed and clothe. That’s why I’m excited to offer you all the chance to win a new Wii game just in time for Christmas. It’s called PopStar Guitar and has a concept similar to Guitar Hero.

I’m a huge Guitar Hero fan so I was excited to try this game out and pass it on to one of you. Here’s the rundown. There are several things I like about it. First, the price is right. It costs about the same as a regular Wii game but comes with two controllers, ready to play right out of the box.

Second, it has TWO controllers. I love the fact that you can play against with someone else right away, no more gear to buy.

Third, you are much more likely on PopStar Guitar to find female characters who are not dressed like ladies of the night. Seriously I do not want Laylee to even see the screen with what the GH girls are wearing.

Some other notes about the game: The songs are lighter than those on Guitar Hero, making it more appropriate for pop fans or younger audiences but they also have less interesting guitar solos. The controls aren’t exactly like butta. I much prefer the feel of an “actual” guitar in my hand. It helps me rock out more and get my groove on and such because that’s what we thirty-year-olds are wont to do. The little PopStar Guitar controllers aren’t as much fun. But then they’re half the price…

I’m also not a huge fan of the fact that they use some cover versions of songs instead of sticking exclusively to original music but I’d be much more likely to let Laylee play PopStar Guitar than the other similar games out there.

If you’d like a free copy, leave a comment on this post with the name of your favorite Wii game and I’ll draw a winner on Wednesday night.

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