16/30: Miscellany

[darkemeralds]

The trouble with the Daily Posting commitment is that...well, there are bound to be some posts of virtually no substance.

Ahem! First of all, I bought one of these off NoMoreRack a couple of weeks ago.



It was on my desk just like that a couple of days ago. Norm walked up and after observing it, asked--very hesitatingly--"Um...what is that?"

LOL. I resisted the obvious crack and said, "It's a USB flash charger." Which it is. Very handy little device. You charge it, it charges your phone. Seems like it might save the day on a long flight.

Second of all, also in technology, my 83-year-old mom just got her first smartphone and is learning how to text. This is a major breakthrough for the I Heart Bell Telephone generation. Personally, I find text messages as heartwarming and welcome as letters in the mail used to be--and I hate talking on the phone; it will be interesting to see whether they make my mom feel more connected or less.

Third of all, as a follow up to the brain-cascade and migraine events of the past couple of weeks, it has taken several days, but I'm feeling "normal" again, whatever that is.

PS: NoMoreRack is the tumblr of bargain-shopping-porn. Don't go there unless you're feeling strong.

Comments

[pinesandmaples]

I had a similar thought, but I'm reluctant to be part of the same brain pattern as Norm. Plus, I doubt you'd be all "Wheee, things in my pants!" at work. Gosh, discretion, Norm.

[darkemeralds]

LOL! Right?

[vampirefan]

Wow!!! What did your mom get?? I'm so curious!!

My mom texts a little bit. She started to do so more while she's in Mexico and it's pretty awesome. We also did a couple of google hangouts. My sister and I really want to get her either a tablet, or iPad or maybe even a Chromebook (when we have extra dinero)

lol Norm...

I'm glad you're feeling better!

[darkemeralds]

My mom kind of flummoxed me when she said she was getting an HTC One. But I looked at the offer she was considering (because the price was so low that I'd break my current contract and switch carriers for it) and it was the HTC One V. It runs a couple of Android versions back--hopefully still updateable by Google--and I'm pretty sure it was formerly branded under a different name.

Anyway, she called me at work today to say that she might take it back: it seems to be defective because the battery needed recharging in only 24 hours. I had to explain to her that yeah, big bright screen + skinny little battery = put a charger in every room (and get one of these naughty-lookin' pink things). Battery life is definitely the weak link in this system.

[tehomet]

A friend of mine has the HTC Desire, pretty similar to the HTC One V, and boy do I covet it. *le sigh*

Yeah, battery life. I had a candy bar phone back when they were like small bricks, and took it on holiday to the Med for three weeks. Only needed to charge it when I got back. Those were the days!

[darkemeralds]

Ah yes, the short period between those Ni-Cad batteries that got memory effects and could never be fully recharged, and today's bright battery-sucking screens. My Nokia candy-bar style phone was fantastic--tough and economical and so functional. And yet the thought of trying to text on that thing today makes me shudder. It was just a telephone, and a good one. My smartphone, on the other hand, barely serves a telephone function at all. It's a camera, a flashlight, a timer, a web browser, a GPS device, a telegraph office, a compass, and a dozen other things, and talking on the phone comprises probably 2% of how I use it.

I've heard rumors of radically new battery technologies and other forms of power coming down the pike. It's hard to believe that this weak link will stay weak forever.