Technologists Notes

A few days ago I was passing by the neighborhood RadioShack and thought “Maybe I could get an Evo from RadioShack faster than directly from Sprint?”.  I walked in, asked a few questions, and a few minutes later I was pre-ordering an Evo, only my second “smartphone”, my first being a Samsung SPH-i300 purchased in late 2001.

I think the i300 was the 2^nd Palm OS (3.5.2) phone on the market (soon after a monochrome phone from Kyocera). I loaded it up with SSH, VNC, a PDF reader, Java ME, Java apps of my own devising and probably some less used apps I’ve forgotten. Using the i300 changed my thinking about email, about web browsing, and application development. But ultimately, the hardware and network weren’t up to what I wanted — I wanted much more screen area in both pixels and physical size, faster processing, and faster transfers.

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[en Inglés, Rainbow Network – network of networks]

I spent Friday morning with the managers of the seven Red Arco Iris project regions (“networks”) and other Nicaraguan staff, working towards la red de redes (the network of networks). I believe, and I think the staff believes, that improved use of email, use of Internet shared storage (SkyDrive) and Skype calling will facilitate better communication and more efficient use of time and other resources.

One of the surprises of that session was eagerness to try Linux. I’m encouraging exploration using Ubuntu “live” CDs.

a.k.a. (Google) Docs and other files live in the Sky(Drive)

a.k.a. “This looks great! But how do I use it?” (silence)

Back in the 90s, Larry Ellison and others were positing the feasibility of the “Internet Computer” a.k.a. “Network Computer”, based on “thin client” hardware and ubiquitous network access to servers and services. Though impractical then, computing along those lines is (becoming) practical today.

For those with sufficient  motivation, Google Documents (a.k.a. “Docs”) and (Microsoft) SkyDrive provide enticing capabilities.

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Today, Blog Action Day cites 10,000 blogs trying to raise awareness of poverty and initiate action amongst 10,000,000 projected readers. They suggest posts consistent with a site’s other topics that address poverty. It’s very late in the day, so probably best to wait to say much, but here’s a start and some seeds for future posts.

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No, not Intellectual Property, rather Internet Protocol.

Preparing for my trip to Managua last week, I wondered what cell phone, Internet access and TV would be like at the hotel in Managua. Even more I wondered about the rural Nicaraguan areas, where I soon learned that sometimes the creek beds look better for driving than the roads.

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