As I said, for password protected stuff like needing to change a plane reservation on the hop. It's not just a phone, it has email and a browser, among a fair number of other things.
One time last May, I was stuck on the tarmac in Hartford, where my plane was diverted due to weather. There was no prospect of getting home that day by air, so I downloaded the Kayak app for the BB, found that there was one car rental company that still had cars, reserved one, and got off the plane with one of the ramp guys, who let me into the terminal. I rented the car and was home in less than two hours.
BBs are Good Medicine.
Cheers
Phil Hobbs
--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal
ElectroOptical Innovations
55 Orchard Rd
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510
845-480-2058
email: hobbs (atsign) electrooptical (period) net
http://electrooptical.net
On a sunny day (Sat, 12 Feb 2011 21:47:13 -0500) it happened Spehro Pefhany wrote in :
Here I can make payments, do my banking, switch on the heater before I get home, order things, read my email, chat on IRC, even post to Usenet if I REALLY wanted too, from my cellophone. So Phil Hobs is right that security is an issue. Oh, and it can do SMS and phone calls too of course, has a video camera, plays my favourite videos when I am in a hotel room or elsewhere, has handsfree with a bluetooth headset for in the car, google maps to find your way, the list goes on. Forgot mp3 player, FM radio... The cost is not really that high, as long as I stay in the Netherlands. The EU is working to get rid of those ridiculous roaming charges for the member states. Next phone I buy will have WiFi too, telco (KPN) just did let me know that I now pay less and will get free WiFi on hundreds of points in my country. Competition :-) What we will see next in cellphones here, is 'near field communication' where you can pay for transport in buses and trains, right now I have a 'near field' public transport chip card for that.
I hate the teeny tiny screens. My 13.3" netbook is as small as I want to go. Lots of free Wifi places to do that. I got burned a few years ago when I spend $600 on a PDA that wouldn't work on many of the sites like airline, banking sites that were actually useful, so I'll wait a bit longer before jumping in again with both feet.
Can you get phones that will allow you to make calls over Wifi? I can (and do) make overseas calls for next to nothing from coffee shops.
Wife and kid have Blackberries. There are packages geared at teenagers that use some 3G (social nw) without charging for full internet and her company picks up her costs (if you don't mind being constantly available and 'tagged' with a GPS, ugh). I have an ancient Sony-Ericsson flip phone and Bluetooth adapter for the car. Kid coming back from the World Junior games in Buffalo NY was posting FB photos (taken with the BB X megapixel internal camera) right from the moving car, for free.
Competition.. would be nice! you probably have to be living in Canada to really appreciate this:
formatting link
It would be about #$#$ time- I've been using it in Hong Kong for a decade or so, as well as all forms of transit (including mini-buses) you can also pay for stuff at the convenience store, breakfast at Deli France, etc, etc. Easy to refill the cards and they can stay in your wallet or as part of your mobile phone (or watch, I think) as you swipe past the reader. It's _mature_ technology. We're only now starting to see CC's with this feature built in around here- (un)holy oligopoly Batman!
Best regards, Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com
Yup. I have to use my reading glasses. On the plus side, you can set up the browser to display most websites in stripes, so you can use a legible font size.
Yup. My BB 8900 does that. Local minutes only, even from overseas.
The video camera works pretty well as a flashlight in a pinch, too.
Cheers
Phil Hobbs
--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal
ElectroOptical Innovations
55 Orchard Rd
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510
845-480-2058
email: hobbs (atsign) electrooptical (period) net
http://electrooptical.net
Ummmmmm! I'm'a going to tell TSA on you ;-) ...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, CTO | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |
Remember: Once you go over the hill, you pick up speed
I have a client in Hong Kong who calls me from his cell phone, but via Skype. ...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, CTO | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |
Remember: Once you go over the hill, you pick up speed
You've got to be kidding.. and I though my German was pretty good. lol.
Actually that clip (from a UK/US movie) is a widespread internet meme that shows up with dozens of different subtitles.. I didn't think I'd have to explain it. It's probably a lot funnier if you don't understand much German.
How can you change the station? In HK, in the zone system, your card is scanned when you enter the transit system (balance is displayed, but no deduction made) and when you leave, and the appropriate amount deducted from the balance when you leave (or if your card doesn't have enough, you're directed to a manned station to make good on the fee). For flat fee (like ferries or trams) the fee is deducted at entry. I suppose that if you snuck up to the entry turnstiles from behind you could put the card through again, but that would be pretty easy to detect.. a lifo rather than a one-deep buffer, then they could charge you for both 'trips' taken concurrently. Not to mention that they could see you doing it. Sounds like a really silly bit of application software.
This is what's in my wallet (when in HK):
formatting link
The maximum 'charge' is less than 100 EUR so it's like a small wad of cash should you happen to lose it.
Looks like there was a scam going at a couple of the Chinese border points using multiple cards to deliberately cause the system to fail safe.
What happened to the 'honor' system where you punch your own ticket etc. ?
Best regards, Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com
The DFs in NL decided to put the information unencrypted on a Mifare card. Yes, they put a sector password on it but that is easy to circumvent these days.
--
Failure does not prove something is impossible, failure simply
indicates you are not using the right tools...
nico@nctdevpuntnl (punt=.)
--------------------------------------------------------------
On a sunny day (Sun, 13 Feb 2011 11:36:56 -0500) it happened Spehro Pefhany wrote in :
Possible, for me it was a strange experience to see a wrong translation that way. I have done translation subtitling myself.
I dunno how they do it, here is the Dutch link:
formatting link
it says they are investigating, and also they will get new chips. This is what it looks like:
formatting link
Funny I was talking to the utility company, and the lady on the phone said: "We trust our customers". This was about reporting the usage counter via internet, they do not come to your house. Amazing in these times.
Hmmm. I wonder if that's related to Continental Drip.
Ever notice on a world map, there all those pointy things pointing south? Even at the bottom of Australia! A world map looks like somebody threw a couple cans of paint at the wall, and it dripped, making India, Tierra Del Fuego, Florida, and so on. Even Scandahoovia looks like it tried to go up and tipped over!
I wonder if I could get a government grant to study that? ;-)
Windows would be much better than "Android" that they could go to.
People fighting progress are morons. Take your anxiety medication.
Stick with your phone that does nothing, expect nothing and can't upgrade nothing. Better yet carry your pulse dialer with you and plug it in to your cigarette lighter.
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