Hey, I’m a video blogger

I tried making some videos for election day as an experiment, and I think it went pretty well.

The first one is 16 minutes, I made it in my office with iMovie and my laptop’s built-in camera. I made 3 more with nothing but my cellphone (a $50 Treo 680) as I attended the victory celebrations of some of the candidates. They are shown here in reverse order:

I am loving http://blip.tv for how easy they make this.

Treo deathmatch

I’m getting ready to replace my trusty 3-year-old Treo 600 with a newer model. I’m looking at the colorful and affordable 680, and the newer, professional 755p. They are almost the same with the following differences. Any advice?

Treo 755p Treo 680
$279* $199
CDMA2000
EvDO
(faster Internet)
GSM/GPRS/
EDGE
(works outside the US)
128MB storage 64MB storage
1.3MP camera VGA camera
Sprint AT&T

I actually think the international function might be more important to me than the faster speed, even though I would benefit from the latter much more often.

* Probably more because I am already on Sprint.

Consider yourself… warned

Sprint and Cingular are both on my shit list now. Since I got my fabulous Treo 600 almost 3 weeks ago, it has worked great.. EXCEPT you can’t call me on it. You can’t leave me a message either.

There is apparently a problem with the porting of my number from Cingular to Sprint. I have called Sprint 10-15 times now and spent about 8 hours trying to get them to provide the service I am being billed for. When I was a consultant, I would have billed about $550 for this time.

I have also spent some quality time (but not as much as I am going to) trying to explain to Sprint’s billing department why their charges for package minutes are bogus since I can’t actually use the minutes to receive calls. Out of the 350 minutes I paid for in the last billing cycle I used 1. Now that’s real fair.

I won’t go into all the different evasions and flat-out lies I have gotten from various Sprint technicians. At least not yet. But the longer I don’t have a phone number, the more frustrated I become. And the less charitable I feel. I just filed a complaint with the FCC. What else can I do to spread the word and/or apply some pressure? Is there any point in contacting the N.C. Utilities Commissiom? Or should I just get a lawyer?

Hi from Trixie

Sorry it’s been a little quiet on the blog this week. I have two new obsessions. One is WordPress, an open source blogging tool. I’m trying to move OrangePolitics.org over there, but it’s a difficult process.

As if it wasn’t bad enough that I’m neglecting my loved ones and responsibilities while I stay up late blogging, I just got a new Treo 600. This thing truly does it all: phone, IM, web, camera, plays MP3s, washes dishes… OK, the domestic technology isn’t quite there yet. But I’m composing and posting this entire entry from the palm of my hand!

Not bad. I think I’ll call my new friend Trixie. Say hi!