What not to do with your G1-Android

As previously mentioned, Homer came into the household on November 28th. I really did not get to play with him until the 29th due to a mistake with T-Mobile activating the Internet feature on my wife's phone instead of mine (due to black Friday interweb cloggage).

My first phone was a bronze, which due to the light background around the keys would be easier for me to see (with my eyes being how they are), but I was way wrong.

Caution for those with White or Bronze Androids (or wanting)!
The keys automatically back-light when used, which means, if they are light colored, and light up the printed text on them, they completely wash out. Although similar to the keyboard on your computer, the size was enough to cause me to be frustrated and eventually pay the stupid $10 restocking fee to switch to a black unit. Also please note there is absolutely no way to deactivate the back-light feature.

So back to the story.
Homer finally became Internet Aware in the late evening of November 28, 2008. Of course I was asleep at the time and was able to begin my wanderings on Saturday. During the day I used it, went on errands and did some research, checked email, all while moving around town.

Some features were a bit disappointing:

• Maps (not easy to zoom in and out)
• Shop Savvy (the barcode scanner is useless in normal light, at a store)
• YouTube (the quality is horrible)
• Battery life (4 hours while using the web)
  

Some items were simply wonderful:

• Synch with my Google accounts (mail and contacts specifically)
• Internet
• Marketplace (and all that comes with it)

And now, what to beware of:

• Do not ever, go into Settings>Applications>Manage applications, and select myFaves. Do not uninstall it, do not clear the cache, just leave it alone. Or you will find your phone without any contacts. To fix this I had to go in to my Gmail Contacts, add one, do the same in the phone, and force a synch, then delete them.
• Do not ever drop the phone. Even from 6 inches. This sucker cannot take any strain or stress. The reason I believe I had to return the first phone was a 12" drop from the case, while going to plug it in. Every single other phone I have ever had has been dropped, thrown, stepped on, and continues to function. This is worse than my iPod. Heck, my laptop takes more of a beating.

Some things you should do:

1. Activate the security pattern. After using it for three days, I'm convinced it is worth it without adding any noticeable delay in using the device. Settings>Security & location>Require pattern.
2. Get a skin, save the life of your device
   
3. Install the following applications:

• AK Notepad
• Pictorial (for Picasa users)
• Power Manager (to shut off things like GPS and 3G, for longer live)
• Voice Recorder

As I use this more, I will include more items on what to do, not to do, and how to improve your life with this truly amazing new device.

New phone -- Android (Google G1)

As I play with this I am becoming a fan.
My first round (before I had it replaced) was not a good experience. It stopped working and I discovered that the Bronze and White have unusable keyboards (with always-on back light) during daylight hours.
As I use this more I will post hints and tips around my G1.
I think I'll call him Homer!

Multiple blogs -- when will it end?

I have a blog at work (three actually, one on public blogs one internal and one through MOSS), I have one that my XBox360 has, one off of the Windows Live, this one.

I'm blogged out.

When should I get excited?

Bungie Studios, with cooperation from Certain Affinity have released two new maps for the Halo2 platform. This is an interesting move considering that next month the Halo3 Beta program will start (for selected individuals). I can only assume that this is a very valid attempt to resuscitate life into XBox-Live play and Halo2.

The maps are great, the gameplay is exciting and there have been many write-ups on the web doing a detailed analysis on both Tombstone and Desolation.

My problem is that out of the gate, I can't download them to my XBox 360. I get an interesting error screen and nothing happens, however, I WAS BILLED FOR THE DOWNLOAD. One would think you know whether a download occured, whether an error occured and bill accordingly. Now this is only $4 -- but it's my $4.

Fix the problem, do an update, how about DO SOME TESTING before you release?