My First 24 Hours with my iPad

9:30 AM

My honey, Robert, and I arrived at the Best Buy in Pleasant Hill.  There were approximately 10 men already waiting in front of the store.  After about 5 minutes, a Best Buy representative came out to hand out tickets.  Their iPad inventory had just arrived at 9:00am without accessories -- cuttin’ it close!  We took the 16GB ticket.  I’d decided we would get the base model because we only plan to use it at home for internet browsing, YouTube watching, and reading the news (we let our NY Times and Oprah subscriptions lapse in anticipation of using the iPad to read them).

For the first 15-20 minutes standing in line I was the only female…but soon there were a few more of us.  For one older woman who kept her head lowered the entire time, it was the first time she has ever gotten up early to buy a new toy on launch day.  She was so excited, but she wouldn’t look up because it was also the first time she had ever in her life left the house without make up on. LOL!!

10:00 AM

Just before the doors opened there were 20-25 people in the iPad line.  A few of us noticed their were about 10 other people waiting for the store to open that were not in the iPad line.  Why?  What would you get up early to buy first thing in the morning from Best Buy that wasn’t an iPad ;)  Things that make Apple fans go hmmmm……

The Best Buy representatives sent us directly to customer service line to purchase our iPad.  They told us they had plenty of inventory for everyone one to get one so a few hesitators went to the display to play with it before handing over their credit card; not us we went straight to the cashier.  The best part was we saved our Best Buy coupons and got our iPad at a significant discount!  Yeah!

10:30 AM

In the car we opened up the package, turned it on and the connect to iTunes icon was displayed on the screen L  Hungry, we went to breakfast first and showed off the box.  It was great even little kids who spotted the box started yelling “iPad, iPad!”

11:45 AM

I ran upstairs to the my iMac, connected the iPad, and went through the setup.  The best part “An iPad has been previously synced to this computer” message.  Not!  I did a quick google and found TheAppleBlog had already documented the entire setup process with screen shots (Thanks!) and they had gotten the same screen.  So, I selected "Setup new iPad." and moved on to naming it.  Robert suggested "MaxiPad", I said, "No.", yet it is probably the only pad I want people to know I'm wearing...ewww!! LOL!!  We settled on "GoGadgetGurl's iPad".

Setup took ~20 minutes.  It probably would have taken only 5-10 minutes if I had chosen not to put 191 photos the iPad had to optimize for viewing.  Also all my apps were automatically sync’d all to the iPad.  When I saw all my apps on the iPad it struck me how personal my iPhone is to me.  There are apps like iPeriod that I removed because I don’t want that info on a coffee table device (TMI!!!)!

The rest of the setup, network connection, email, and MobileMe was as easy as it is on the iPhone.

12:15 PM

iPhone apps run on the iPad but they launch in iPhone display size.  There’s a convenient “2x” button in the lower right corner that increases the size of the app to fit the iPad screen.  The resolution is pretty good and the pixelation is minimal, and it doesn’t it look stretched.  We discovered this looking for the highly publicized NY Times iPad app.  It isn’t called "nytimes".  I don’t understand why yet (if you know, let me know?), but the NY Times iPad app is called “NYT Editor’s Choice”   I had to do a couple of searches on iTunes Store before it showed up.  I also wasn’t able to find the hyped Zinio for iPad app, but my iPhone version works fine.

1:30 PM

I finally let my honey play with it.  He goes directly to the NY Times app and declares “Print is truly dead now.  The iPad in landscape is the same size as the paper folded in half!”   He reads 3-4 newspapers a day!

I leave him be to read his email, and then he decides he should finally accept the 3 Facebook invitations (including mine) that I swear are at least 6 months old.  So, he post the photo I took of him at Best Buy to his 3 Facebook friends…he’s getting there slowly.

I leave him to do his thing…send emails, watch You Tube videos, house hunt, etc.  All the things he  used to do on his iPhone.

3:30 PM

I find the iPad laying on the coffee table so I take it back and download “Pages” for $9.99.  I want to write a quick document and my laptop is too cumbersome to lugged around the house ;)

Pages is completely differently than the desktop version which makes it a slight challenge to use.  My review of Pages for the iPad is probably a blog post all it’s own.  After I figured out how to get a blank document, typing with the onscreen keyboard was easier than I expected it to be.  I was pecking the soft keys more than typing, but I wrote two quick documents.  There isn't a “Save” menu option, but an “Export” menu option with three format choices “Pages”, “.doc”, and “PDF”.  I can also email the document in one of these three formats.

5:00 PM

Robert plays with it some more and downloads the BBC news app.  Nice news app, it has video for every news article. 

6:00-10:00 PM

We stop to have dinner and watch a movie, not on the iPad.  It isn’t going to replace our 52-inch flat screen.

10:00 PM

Robert does his night time reading on it before going to sleep.  We charge it next to the bed.

6:00 AM

I wake up, feed the dog, and Robert reminded me to call our neighbor to see if he was going to Easter service with us.  This is when I realized I had no idea where my iPhone was!  No worries, I grabbed the cordless phone and the iPad to get the phone number.  After the phone call, I peruse the BBC news apps, install the NPR news app and stream KQED radio while I get dressed for Easter service.  Robert and I considered taking it to church with us, but decided not to J

Happy iPadding to everyone,

GoGadgetGurl!

Oprah's Favorite New Gadget

I love Oprah! When Oprah loves something she’s passionate about it and tells anyone who will listen to her.

Last week I was working from home, my usual Thursday routine. I had the TV on in the background (yes I work with the TV on). At 4pm, after watching Ellen DeGeneres dance at the beginning of her show, I changed to The Oprah Show. It was a great show about the documentary Food Inc., and at the end there was a special Amazon offer. I went to Oprah.com in search of the offer, I couldn’t find it, which turned out to be a blessing because what I did find was truly wonderful - Oprah’s favorite new gadget from Amazon, the Amazon Kindle. There’s a great article, "Oprah's Favorite New Gadget",
about all the reasons Oprah loves the Amazon Kindle. My favorite part is Oprah had Jeff Bezos, the Founder and CEO of Amazon, give a Kindle tutorial on her show to her entire studio audience and a group of moms in San Diego. It was fabulous! Doesn’t everyone call the
CEO when they want to know how to use their new gadget?! Check out the article and the video tutorial here, "Take Jeff Bezos Amazon Kindle Class".

I have only one piece of constructive criticism about the tutorial: it would have been better if there was a close up camera shot on the Kindle while Jeff Bezos was demonstrating how to use the features so the audience in the studio and at home could see what he was doing on the device. It appeared some of the audience was having a hard time following along, I think that would have helped them. Of course, this critique is more for the producers than Oprah or Jeff.

Finally, seeing all those women learn how to use the Kindle gave me a thrill as GoGadgetGurl!™, because there was an entire audience of women discussing how to use their new gadget together (yes Oprah gave everyone in the audience a Kindle).

I started this blog to encourage more conversations about our gadgets with each other. I believe the more we share our enthusiasm for - or frustration with - the tech in our lives it empowers us to participate more fully as savvy consumers in the design, development, and production of the next tech gadgets. Hope I don’t sound to preachy…

Knowledge - the ultimate fashion accessory!
GoGadgetGurl!™

Music Magic!?

So, about a month ago I told you about how I was shocked to find out that Shazam is now charging for tags. Ouch! Well after some searching, I discovered that they have a new version of the app for a one time fee of $4.99 that will give you unlimited tags. I can live with that!

Now some of you are probably wondering why I’m making all the fuss – what’s Shazam, and why do I care so much? So, the quick answer: it’s like Google for songs…truly music magic! Shazam “tags” a song you are listening to and tells you who the artist is, the name of the song, and if applicable, the album on which it's released. Now you probably want to know what “tagging” is and how Shazam does it!

First, tagging. In Shazam, tagging is the process for creating a unique identifier for a song. Shazam has a proprietary method for creating these unique identifiers, called tags.

Next, how Shazam does it. They have a database of millions of songs they have already tagged. By taking a 15-20 second recording (they say they really only need 5 seconds) of the song you’re listening to they can create a tag and match it to a song in their database. Impressive? It gets better.

The first version of Shazam was free. It had to be free because if it wasn’t, I would not have bought it. I wouldn’t have believed it could be so accurate if I hadn’t experienced using it first. I got so addicted to it! I was constantly showing it off every time someone asked me, “Hey CJ, what’s your favorite app?” I used it on multiple genres of music: R&B, hip hop, jazz, country, rock, house, etc. - and in multiple listening environments. The most amazing experience was when it accurately tagged the background music playing in a busy TGI Friday’s!

Since I’ve made 2010 the year I adhere to a spending plan (some of you might call this a budget, yet that feels to restrictive so I call it my spending. This has helped a lot!), the idea of a few bucks going on a credit card or coming out of my checking account every month sets off an alarm. If I was going to be asked to pay Shazam $3.99/mo, I’m immediately wandering what app is next? These little incremental charges will add up and potentially become a significant monthly expense. Glad, this isn’t happening yet.

So, I’m willing to pay for Shazam because it works and I love it! And for all you non-iPhone users that have versions for Nokia, Blackberry, and Android.

Knowledge the ultimate fashion accessory,
GoGadgetGurl!™

Interview Series: My Gurls and their gadgets!

Since I’m always talking about me, I decided to find out from my friends and inspirational women (of course, some of my friends are inspirational women ;) how their personal gadgets and technology has enhanced their careers, relationships, and passions.
So, first up is a conversation with one of my best friends, Joanne, a high school math teacher and entrepreneur. It’s amazing to me, but some of my friends don’t think of themselves as “gadget gurls”. Yet I see them using tech gadgets and other technology in multiple areas of their lives. So, you’ll see in the questions I posed it took a little coaxing with Joanne but her passion for her tech gadgets came alive….

GGG: Why do you like your Mac Book? Has it changed how you watch TV? ;)
Jo: I love my MACBOOK! I watch my dvd/movies on it as well as catch up on my Ugly Betty if I miss an episode.

GGG: How does it make your life easier or better?
Jo: iWork.com has made my life much easier! I no longer have to save a file as a particular type and then attach. I can just upload, choose types for downloading, and send a link. I also like iPhoto for its accessibility and user friendliness. Everything on MAC acts, behaves, and responds so intuitively!

GGG: Do you use technology in the classroom? How does it affect the educational experience? Does it enhance it?
Jo: I use Geometer's Sketchpad, TI-84 Graphing Calculators, Fathom Dynamic Data Software, and CAHSEE PREP software. I use the two listed every class session. I also use an LCD projector to display and guide my students through the investigations we’re doing. If I find somewhere where I've already written how technology enhances my curriculum, I'll send it to you. It's not a short answer and I'm sure I have it written up somewhere for a grant.

GGG: Do you have any ideas on how you would like to use technology in the classroom? Either things you have seen or ideas you have but have yet to see implemented?
Jo: YES YES YES.... will send response later.... also a long one.

GGG: Switching gears... I know you and your parents video chat sometimes, how or why did you start? Has it caught on with other family members and/or friends?
Jo: I started because of the renovations on our house.... wanted to share them with my mom and dad. My cousin started too because of the same reason... I encouraged her to iChat me in to show me the house.... she's anti-computer for the most part but now loves it. Although, now she wants to do it with me all the time and I don't have that kinda time. I also don't see a need for iChat as opposed to chatting on the phone with her, unless she literally has something to show me.

GGG: I know you're a huge fan of soccer :) And you often watch your nephews games on the Internet. Tell me more about that experience?
Jo: CRAP!!!! Just recently I found out that lots of the games I want to see are offered through an online streaming site (actually, there are lots of them) that you can pay a small fee (like $40/year) but the U.S. is blocked out from access!!!!! Other countries, no problem. What Crap!!!! I do use espn360.com to view some of the games, including my nephew's games, and I used the remote access option to set it up so my mom and dad could use my password and watch on their mac at home (there's some flash plug in something or other that had to be loaded on the computer first and my mom couldn't get it to work so i just did remote access and gave her my password). I'm also pissed that sometimes I can't watch accselect.com on my computer for the same reason... something about a plug in that I couldn't figure out!

Anyone know a good Subscription Aggregator?

I just discovered Shaazam is now charging a monthly fee to tag over 5 times a month! If all my apps are going to start charging me a fee I'm going to need a payment aggregator to manage all these little subscriptions...hmm...I wonder if anyone has done that? Gotta go get my search on....

Nails or Nubs (that is Resistive or Capacitive)...

I’m always amazed by what I learn when I ask a simple question. Recently I was at my fiancé's annual holiday gala, and one of his friend’s mentioned he bought his wife an iPod Touch. So, I asked her, “How do you like your iPod Touch?” She said, “I can’t use it because of my nails.” She lifted her right hand above the table to reveal beautiful long artificial french manicured nails. And she added, “I prefer phones that have a stylus.” And I immediately thought that’s the difference for us between resistive touch (stylus or pressure sensitive) screens or capacitive sensing (finger or conductive) touch screens. Being a diva that prefers short nails and sometimes nubs, this limitation had never crossed my mind. Back at Cal when I first started taking my major requirements (my major was computer science). One of the first things I learned was long nails were going to prevent me from getting out of the computer lab early. I had a study partner that had long artificial nails and I watched her painstakingly (I think it was more painstaking for me to be watching, waiting on her) peck the keys very slowly so she wouldn’t press more than one key, which often happened, when she tried to use the soft part of her finger. She decided computer science wasn’t the right major for her.

Fast forward to now and women with nails have options. At the dinner table, I wondered out loud, mostly in a conversation with her husband since he’s the gadget geek (I think he probably really bought the iPod Touch for himself), is it possible to develop a screen that can switch between capacitive and resistive, finger or stylus. In doing some research, there isn’t an obvious solution, but I’m sure given a significant consumer demand it isn’t impossible to design or approximate. I also discovered you can buy a stylus for the iPhone or iPod Touch. It is called a conductive stylus. Like the human body which is conductive (i.e. we can hold an electric charge, think static electricity), this stylus is designed to hold a charge and act like a finger when used on the screen. Ah! Very cool.

I love learning something new every day. I’m going tell him to get her a conductive stylus for Christmas, she just might enjoy putting some cool apps on her iPod Touch.

GoGadgetGurl!
"Knowlege the ultimate fashion accessory!"

GoGadgetGurl is Back!!!

Yes, I'm back! I was inspired when I saw the last page of the October O list 2009. Unfortunately, there isn’t an online version of the last page. So, what’s so great about it? It’s a whole page of cool gadgets! I love it! There is a a cool Sony VAIO netbook, the new Apple iPod Shuffle (that is now voice activated!), the new iHome Stereo speakers for the new iPod Nano, the Canon Selphy photo printer, the Flip MinoHD video camera, and a fully functional digital replica of a vintage Rolleiflex. Next O Magazine should hire me to review these cool products. Anyone know the editor?

Of all the gadgets, the one I’ll get is the Canon Selphy CP780 Silver Compact Photo Printer. I have a couple of pics in iPhoto that I want to print and haven’t because it’s isn’t quick and easy. A few years back, I bought my Mom a Kodak EasyShare printer for her digital camera and she took to it like a pro. She loved taking photos with her Kodak digital camera, coming home printing them, and immediately framing them. She printed copies for everyone else too -- neighbors, family, and friends, anyone that would come over. I was always being surprised by who had a picture of me. It was like she got the ultimate school picture package! Oh! Am I dating myself?! They probably offer school picture packages on CD now.

Seriously, seeing this page of tech gadgets in O Magazine is the reason why I started GoGagdgetGurl. I don’t see reviews and articles about the phones, digital cameras, and music players we are using daily in the womens’ magazines I read. They have changed our lives in amazing ways. I want to read about these stories and learn about the cool gadgets our girlfriends are using.

So stay tuned....I’ll tell you all about the my new little photo printer :)

Knowledge the ultimate fashion accessory!

Are you ready to Blaze!

My friend Michelle was at the checkout line one day and thought to herself, "Wouldn't it be cool to use my mobile phone to pay for this transaction?" (I'm paraphrasing). There are probably many people with this thought besides Michelle, the only difference is she had the resources, experience, and cajones to pull it off! Today she is founder and CEO of BlazeMobile. My girl is badd! (NOTE: I realize I'm daiting myself with that slang). So, this weekend I'm blazin' to the movies, the museum, and whatever else I can do with BlazeWallet, my newest iPhone app. I'll let you know how it goes....

Stay tuned....

GoGadgetGurl!
"Knowlege the ultimate fashion accessory!"

Breast feeding with your iPhone

Huh!? That's was my first thought. I was talking to a colleague telling him about this blog and why I started it and he immediately got it. He told me that he's looking at his wife with a kindle on one side of her lap and the the iphone on the other while she's breast feeding their son, and thinks to himself her fitness magazine isn't talking about this. Exactly! there aren't any womens' magazine or even technology magazine's that review, evaluate, technology from a personal, lifestyle perspective. And for me being a female I really want to see in our womens' media cover technology from a lifestyle perspective. So, that's the reason I started the blog; to start, contribute, and enhance the conversation on how technology informs our decisions, our experiences, and our collective mindset.

And before I go, yes, I looked up the iPhone breast feeding apps and I am simply amazed! Since I haven't been blessed to me a mother yet, I didn't know how much information a mom has to track when she chooses to breast feed! These apps help moms keep track of everything from the last breast her baby fed on to tracking bowels (sorry if that's TMI for some of you). If you're a mom or a mom to be with an iphone and want to know more check out these iPhone apps, search on breast feeding at the App Store, or learn about Baby Tracker Nursing by http://www.andesigned.net/ for $7.99 and Breastfeeding by Lars Bergelt for $0.99.
The price difference is in the amount of information each tracks. I have to agree with one customer's comment, "Apps like this are what separate the iPhone."

GoGadgetGurl!
"Knowlege the ultimate fashion accessory!"

PS> and the Amazon kindle was reading material while breast feeding. Of course!

So What's This I'm Hearing about Windows 7?

So, I was speaking with a co-worker the other day and he says "I hear Windows 7 is getting some good hype?", and I say "Windows 7? They just released Vista! I guess they had to give up on Vista with a quickness". And then he said "Well, I think Windows Vista got alot of hype early on too, eh!"

Later I pondered, "7? Why 7 ?" Let's see there was Windows 3.0. That's the last time they used a number. Since then there have been Windows 2000™, Windows NT™, Windows XP™, and Windows Vista™. I never switched to Windows Vista. When I first heard about it, the reviews were all negative, so I thought why bother, especially since my employer at the time wasn't bothering either. I have used Vista on my honey's (he's my fiance, now...and he didn't propose via text!) HP laptop and experienced those annoying access control dialogs. Oops, I digressed! Back to the Windows lineage...let's say Windows 2000™ and Windows NT™ are Windows 4.0 (if my memory serves me correctly, they released very close together), Windows XP™ is 5.0, and Windows Vista™ is 6.0! And then Windows 7.0! Ta dah! But wait a minute what about Windows 95™?

Are you still wondering if their is any truth to the hype? I did a quick google and discovered there is?! Check out Don Reisinger's blog The Digital Home, specifically his posts, "What scares me about Windows 7" and "Why I can't get enough of Windows 7". And then there's Ina Fried's posts, "Securing the Windows 7 beta" and "Windows 7 on a Mac Mini". And finally, a petition to release it now!

What's makes me laugh is the comparison's to Mac OS X. I have this image of Microsoft engineers sitting in a conference room around an iMac running MacOS X with the question written on the whiteboard, "What can we bite off of Mac OS X and then improve on? " And didn't they do the same thing to develop Windows 3.0? All I can say is Microsoft may have the dominance in sheer numbers of users of their OS, but they have always followed Apple in innovation. And since Apple is on the eve of releasing their next version of Mac OS X this year before Windows 7, it's likely the Windows 7 beta hype will be short lived. Which just gives Apple more commercial material.

Disclaimer: I'm writing this blog on my iMac.



GoGadgetGurl!
“Knowledge, the ultimate fashion accessory!”

"<your name>@usps.com"

I heard a news story on NPR.org about the billions of dollars the United States Post Office lost this past year. And it struck me that at it's core the USPS is about delivery. So, what if at the birth of the expansion of the internet, when yahoo and hotmail began offering free email, what if the leaders of the USPS saw the explosion email would be globally and offered free email as usps.com. I bet 9 of 10 people who made the decision to pick a free email service would have chosen <your name>@usps.com over yahoo and hotmail. I know I would have. No doubt. It makes so much sense to have the same company that handles my home mail, handle my email. And today USPS would not be known as just snail mail. Not sure how the USPS could have capitalized on multimillions of people having free email serviced by the United States Post Office, but I'm sure lots of people would be thinking of lots of ideas :)

GObama!!!

I am thrilled Barack Obama is the President-elect of the United States of America. I feel as if we, the American people, have been given a hand to lift us up out of the the tumultuous sea of fear that has been governing us. Maybe I’m being overly dramatic. Yet, I don’t care. I am excited on so many levels. I’ve been reading articles for months on the positions of McCain vs. Obama, and the arrogant authority the Bush administration has been taking to serve a conservative agenda and undermine our democracy….though, let me not get so high and mighty on my soap box. This blog is for the stories of technology in our lives.

Obama’s campaign used technology masterfully to generate momentum at the grassroots level. And I am looking forward to the innovation that his presidency will fund, and support. I read an article in the New York Times comparing McCain’s position on innovation vs. Obama’s position. I have always believed that the success in the Silicon Valley was due in large part to the free education system that we had for many years at the Junior college level, and the extremely affordable education provided to Californians by the California State University and the University of California systems. All that free and affordable education not only cultivated genius, but gave geniuses like Steve Jobs and Larry Ellis the workforce necessary to build their successful companies. So, when I read that Mr. Obama feels that funding education and research in technology and the sciences will boost America’s position as a leader in innovation, I agreed. That's the long term solution. We had no more time for the McCain approach which would have been to deregulate corporations and hope they do the right thing. That’s the same old trickle down theory from Reagonmics 101. Thank God we’ve been saved!



God Blessed America.

GoGadgetGurl!
“Knowledge, the ultimate fashion accessory!”

Are There Too Many Blogs?

Maybe, but does it matter? I read a small article in Wired Magazine: 16.11 (that's the November '08 issue) that gave me pause. It said, "Thinking about launching your own blog? Here's some friendly advice: Don't. And if you've already got one, pull the plug". No, I haven't decided to end GoGadgetGurl!, in fact I've committed to writing it more often. I feel strongly that stories about how women integrating technology into their lives is an important perspective to add to the conversation and I choose blogging as my venue. And by writing more, I hopefully I'll get better.



That small article in Wired introduced me to "The Huffington Post" which the article sighted as part of the reason for the demise of the blog's fresh frontier. I also recently read two nytimes articles ("Huffington and Brown: Paths Intertwine in the Blog Thicket"" and "Editor of Note, Perched Online") that give me reason to celebrate women and blogs. It was encouraging to discover Arianna Huffington's successful two-year old Huffington Post (estimated to be worth $200 million), and her close friend's Tina Brown's latest venture, The Daily Beast, that's almost a month-old and backed by a rumored $18 million. I'm not going to critique these sites (not yet anyway). What I do want to say is, the the uncharted frontier of blogs may be being taken over by the masses, yet the future is far from over today as far as I'm concerned. Like the the settlers that settled the Western Frontier of the United States, the blogosphere promises to continue to grow into lush and beautiful place to be where anyone may express themselves, anyone can comment, nicely or meanly, and conversation is alive and well. Clearly I'm not a maverick ;)

See you in the blogsosphere!

Go Gadget Gurl!
"Knowledge the ultimate fashion accessory"

A cool find using Google

So, the other day, I needed to send an email to someone whose email I didn’t have. I did have her mobile phone number, and I remembered I could send an email to a mobile phone. I have sent an email to the moblie phones of people that are on my same network because I know what mobile carrier they are on. This time I didn’t know the mobile carrier. I wasn’t detered, I thought to myself how can I find out who her mobile carrier is? Is there a website that someone has set up to give me the mobile carrier if I know the person’s phone number?

I first googled “how do I get the mobile carrier if I know the phone number?” and I found some sites that did it in Austrailia. Noooo! I played around with this phrase for a few more searches and then I noticed the terminology of the results I was seeing. A majority of them used the term lookup. So, I changed my search to “mobile carrier lookup” and oh la! A mobile carrier lookup website that gives you the mobile carrier of any phone number. I checked my phone number, my honey’s phone number, family, friends, and others whom I already knew their carrier and it was right every single time. I love the world we live in today in which information is available immediately. So, for those of you that want to know how to send email to mobile phones. Here’s a website that lists the email format of most of the current US mobile carriers...from the mind of GoGadgetGurl!

Let me know what cool google finds you've got!

Go Gadget Gurl!
"Knowledge the ultimate fashion accessory"

Syphone, the iPhone Keepsake Box for My Love Messages

I love applications that do what you expect them to do and do it elegantly right out the box! It's how I felt about the iPhone, and Syphone is a wonderful compliment. I have to admit there was one small hiccup, yet a quick scan of their great support forum, (in which, they have someone knowledgeable actively responding to user inquiries) answered the problem before I even ran into it. So, I unselected the rogue preference and oh la! My messages appeared in the display window exactly like they look on my iPhone. Amazing! There's a navigation list on the left listing each person I have had a conversation with, which allows me to select and browse each conversation, exactly how it appears in my iPhone! I know I just repeated myself. It's that amazing! Shit! I repeated myself again! Well, you can also export your messages as an .xml (web), .pdf (maintains iPhone display look), or .txt (plain text) file.

One caveat for PC'ers, no Syphone for you! So, next week I'll be checking out some options on the PC side since my beloved's iPhone is synced to his HP. He rereads our conversations more than I do :)

I'm feeling a sigh of relief, the love story of my lifetime is triple safe -- iPhone, home computer, and I printed the .pdf file. Crises averted.

Go Gadget Gurl!
"Knowledge the ultimate fashion accessory"

My iPhone Keepsake Box...I like the sound of that!

Well I haven't found an option to save my text messages that screams at me, "Yes, I'm what you're looking for!" When it isn't this easy I ask myself what I'm looking for exactly, I define a criteria, and then I start looking again for the solution that fits my criteria. I prefer when solutions just jump out at me. Oh, I forgot to mention it seems the limit for text messages increased from 1000 to 75000 with the firmware release of iPhone 1.1.3 in January 2008. While I can't find a confirmation of this limit increase on Apple's iPhone site, I did find more than a few blogs, like Technorati, that reported it back in January 2008 when the update was made available. So, at least I can rest easy that I have more time to search for my iPhone keepsake box...hmmm, I like that name....is this an app idea?

Go Gadget Gurl!
Knowledge, the ultimate fashion accessory!

GoGadgetGurl is in love!

Yes, I'm in love! It's been a whirlwind romance and I am so HAPPY!!! He's the perfect guy for me! I feel so blessed real love has finally happened for me. Every time I say that phrase I think of CeCe Peniston's club classic, "Finally!" My love life has been a long journey. A little longer than Carrie and Big. And my guy is a mix between Big and Charlotte's Harry. And even though I've been beginning a wonderful life of love and friendship with an amazing guy, GoGadgetGurl lives. In fact, our entire love story is in my iPhone (and his). He sent me epic love letters, I mean, texts ;) I never want to delete them. In fact, I delete all other texts just to make sure I have space to keep the texts from my honey :) And of course we continue to text each other everyday. The iPhone limit is 1000 text messages. I don't know if there is a count I can view on the phone to know how many we have now, yet I know everyday we get closer to that limit. So, how do I save them? How do I make sure I keep the love story of my life to share with our grandchildren :):):)? And so begins by quest...just what is the keepsake box for the iPhone generation? I promise you, I will discover it, and share it with all of you...

GoGadgetGurl!
Knowledge the ultimate fashion accessory!

I Got "Carried" Away....

And it was fabulous! One of my best friend's and I went to see "Sex And The City" on opening night. We weren't quite prepared for the crowds....well honestly, we knew there would be crowds we just didn't bother to plan...why? Well, I have a new job and I love it! So, since I'm the one that usually does the planning I waited too late, Friday afternoon, to get tickets. All the theaters in the city were sold out and the ones across the bay were sold out as well. We went to each theater, one after the other, to hear or see sold out again and again. After three theatres we finally found a 10:15pm show at a Landmark art house theater. It was 6:45 pm, so we had 3.5 hours to kill. We then went to two restaurants before we finally settled on going to the italilan restaurant across the street from the theater....it suffices to say I did alot of driving that night within a 10 mile radius. In the end it was all worth it! I LOVED the movie! And I especially loved Carrie's discovery of the filtered emails from Big (remember her assistant had the emails from Big go to secure folder protected by the password, "Love"...aaaahhh) declaring his undying love for Carrie :) It was the perfect ending to an enduring love!

GoGadgetGurl!
"Knowledge the ultimate fashion accessory!"

This Summer's Countdown! Our Girls Are Back!

Yes, another summer countdown ;) Last year it was the iPhone. This year it's the Sex and the City Movie. It's so much fun having events to look forward to at the beginning of the summer :) Are you wondering what Sex and the City has to do with GoGadgetGurl! Everything! Every episode she writes her column on her Apple laptop. Remember the episode when Carrie's laptop crashed and how she didn't even want Aidan, or anyone else, beside the computer geek to touch it. He was able to save some of her data. The result, she learned the importance of backing up her data. Oh! And when the series started Carrie didn't have a cell phone. So, remember the episode when Carrie's birthday party was a bust! She waited for hours at an empty table for 10 before she sulked home. When she got there she heard message after message on her answering machine telling her everyone was stuck in traffic and couldn't get to the restaurant. I think it was Miranda's message that said "Get a cell phone!" And that's when Carrie got a cell phone. On the final episode of the series it was a shot of Carrie's blinged out pink cell phone that revealed Big's real name, "John". And if you've seen the Sex and the City trailer it seems to be that same cell phone that we watch fall out of a devastated Carrie's hand and down the drape of her wedding dress to the floor. What happened? Who was on the phone? I don't know now, yet I, along with every other fan, will know on May 30th ;)

GoGadgetGurl!
"Knowledge the ultimate fashion accessory ;)"

My Little Black Bag

So, I thought I'd share with you what I have in my little black accessories bag. The one I mentioned last week. In addition to the audio cable, I carry in my bag all the accessories I need for all my gadgets when I travel. I love this little bag. I never unpack it, so I never forget anything. When I travel I typically carry my mobile phone (currently an iPhone), digital camera, laptop, an ipod or two, and my flash drives. So, in my bag I carry the wall and auto charger for my iPhone and iPods (the adapter and the cables). My digital camera cable to connect to my laptop, an ethernet cable (in case the hotel room doesn't have wireless, and I'm happy to say I haven't needed an ethernet cable in months), and of course, the audio cable. Now, the most important accessories I carry are two electrical outlet extensions. I don't know your experience staying in hotels, my experience has been one too many hotels rooms didn't have enough outlets for me to plug in all my gadgets. My outlet extensions have been a lifesaver many times. And just in case you're wondering my laptop power cord is usually in my laptop bag.

Go Gadget Gurl!
"Knowledge the ultimate fashion accessory"