The Downward Spiral

I just deleted the funambol plugin from my Blackberry for the last time (I think) until a new version comes out.  So syncing with the Blackberry desktop application to Outlook via USB cable transfers everything perfectly including pictures and PINs and all that stuff.  Funambol doesn’t.  Additionally sync’ing with Funambol and then syncing Outlook with Funambol makes the Blackberry and Outlook not sync correctly.

So.. ya.. don’t mix sync’s.. it just won’t work.. it’s either sync everything with 1 source or don’t sync them… so.. goodbye Funambol.. again.. for now.

Everyone I work for/with likes their mobile phones so I decided to check out Funambol again.  Also there’s been renewed interest in doing stuff without Exchange servers, so.. here we go again.

Since I have a Blackberry now, I figured that it would be more supported and more used.  Funambol is also on version 7 and the last time I checked this stuff out was in version 3.5… that’s also when I got an "Opensource Rocks" or something like that T-Shirt from them… oh ya.. I’m big time

So I got PIM sync’ing for the Blackberry and for Thunderbird and for Outlook.  Long story short, what works is if I send contacts to the Funambol server with the Blackberry and then grab those contacts with Outlook and Thunderbird.

If nothing else, this is pretty cool to get contacts from the Blackberry to Thunderbird.. no need to have Outlook in the middle there anymore.  However, since the Blackberry syncs over the cable connection better, and then only with Outlook, it makes this a hard sell to the non-geek community… but, for the most part, this would work.. and that’s pretty nice.

What didn’t work is when I changed anything in Outlook or Thunderbird and told the Blackberry to sync up again.. the Blackberry sync client would error out and that was the end of that.

I didn’t try the Funambol email push client.  BIS works as well as I think it should without needing another app.  Funambol’s email client might work better (and then again might not), but I don’t see much of a reason to switch it.  I WOULD just try it, but I can’t "just do it"… you need to convert some kinda java thing A to java thing B .. or something.. anyway.. I don’t want to mess with that to try something I don’t really want to try.

Anyway.. that’s round 1 of testing.. I’ve deleted the app off the Blackberry many times now, but I put it back on again to get all my contacts from Outlook to Thunderbird.. and that’s really the only thing I’m gonna do with that for right now… local BB to Outlook sync with a cable, push that to Funambol and then pull it down with Thunderbird.

… the rest… maybe more later… but really this has to work flawlessly before I bring it before the bosses.

So I’ve ditched TMobile.  I’d been with them for years now.. since I was
just outta high school.. so since about 1997.. before Tmobile they were
Voicestream and before that they were Aerial.  I still have the original
SIM card that is compatable with all the unlocked phones I’ve gotta over
the years.. still had them tell me I was the oldest account that they’ve
seen when I called.. and they did have the cheapest plan for a long
time.. but now they are getting to be more like the "people with credit
problems" phones… still awesome reception… but that’s about all it
had going for it compared to what’s out there.

So Shannon and I went phone shopping.  She was with Verizon, but I
didn’t really dig them after checking them out.  The cheapest 2 person
everything plans in KC is with Sprint.. 169/m for 2 lines, 3000 minutes,
and unlimted everything.  Sprint doesn’t do MMS very well.. you can get
MMSs but you can’t send them.. well.. I was freaking out about that, but
then I realized that everyone that I MMS I can also email.. so.. there
ya go.

Sprint’s EVDO is amazing.. hands down awesome.  If they could improve
the latency I think we’re talking wired replacement for a lot of
cirumstances… hell even with the latency it’s got it’s pretty awesome
for everything save like FPS games.

We both went with the Crackberry Pearl 8130.  I got a blue and she got a
red.  I didn’t want a bigger phone like the Palm (Al got that.. yes.. we
are of one mind :).. so did Jon.. for FREE from work.. bastard) and I
wanted a solid platform that everyone in the world was using (so Symbian
or Palm or Crackberry or Windows.. but not Windows :).. so nothing like
LG or Motorola or whatever).  The Pearl is actually a little smaller
than my Nokia that I had… 2 meg pixel cam with LED flash, takes a 4
gig microSD, GPS (google maps and Blackberry maps are free.. Sprint’s
Telnav is $2.95 for a day’s use or $10/m unlimited), and all the
Crackberry messaging stuff.

The messaging is pretty awesome.  At first I wasn’t sure.. no real IMAP
client?  "OH FUCK!  WHAT HAVE I DONE?" shot through my mind, but I tried
it out… If I had a BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server) tied to an
Exchange server, it’d be pretty wicked.. but with v4.5 of the phone
software (available online if you read some forums..  not from Sprint)
and then BIS (Blackberry Internet Services) v2.5, you can get HTML email
and email push from any POP3/IMAP account.

IMAPs is the way to go here.  Anything you do from your Blackberry is
updated in your server’s email instantly.  The other way around takes
about an hour to sync up.  So while I’m at work I’m just using Mutt over
SSH usually.  And so after I delete some shit and all that all day, then
when I get ready to leave it’s all sync’d up.  Thunderbird works too,
and I usually use that at home.  Some people on the Intarweb say that
BIS is only 1 way sync.. that’s wrong.. it even says so in their FAQs..
it’s just that stuff you do on the Blackberry updates the server faster
than the server updates the blackberry, except for new messages, which
are very fast.. within 10 seconds, maybe 30 on a slow day, of it being
in your inbox.  They use IMAP’s idle so they can be that fast.

That is all totally awesome.. Blackberry definitely has messaging
down… it’s just "their way".  Push email is the shit… I get email
all day constantly and still have like 95% battery when I get home.
Because it’s only "checking" email when it knows I have something.  Push
baby.. ya.

You can only get your inbox tho with BIS (everything with BES), and that
kinda sucks.. but.. does it?  I mean.. for me, it doesn’t… I barely
switch folders on my desktop, and then it’s only to file things.  There
are full blown IMAP clients for blackberries.. like 2.. but they are
pretty klugdy things compared to Blackberry’s built in messaging.  I
guess to be completely independent on the road I should have one of
these apps on there for emergencies, but I haven’t cared to yet

So far the only apps I added are AIM, google maps, and facebook (lets
you do everything in an app, not the browser.. way faster).  Well and I
added Docs2Go which is free from Blackberry.. allows you to read word
docs and stuff like that.  I had Opera Mini on there, but every time you
open a link it goes in the default browser anyway, so screw that.. I
removed it.

Anyway.. very happy with this phone and the service has been good too.
I actually think I like the voice quality on the Nokia better, but this
is good too.. just different… that’s my only bitch.. otherwise this
thing is fast and very configurable.

man I hate Comcast’s TV stuff.. it just sucks.. Internet is fine, the the DVRs and such.. blech

I was looking to jump ship to satellite… but o, a huge nail in the coffin of Dish network.. you have to have a phone line (or ethernet cable) attached to each receiver.  So I’d have to run 4 more ethernet cables or get a home phone.. both of those options suck… so, no Dish.

so.. I checked with DirecTV and see if they have that requirement too.. they do not.  You can’t order PPV without a phone line, but there’s no fee either.  You can still use Ethernet instead of a phone line with their big DVR too to get PPV.

So.. DirectTV would be the choice over Dish.. even though it’s more expensive.. basically I want all the “normal” channels (with HD!) and HBO and Showtime and maybe access to PPV and OnDemand stuff for about $80/month.. that’s basically what I’m shooting for.

I’ve been having nightmares.. well, what’s new right?  But they are keeping me up all night now.. for the past week or more I’ve been getting up with a start and not able to go back to sleep.  Two nights ago I woke up choking.  So, awesome.

They seem to follow my normal themes of alienation, isolation, and the inability to act… mixed with horror.. zombies have been big lately.  Zombie apocalypse even.  I really hate zombies.

I could have slept a lot more this morning.  Saturday I got to sit around all day with Shannon and that was the best thing ever.  Last night, even though I was having fun, I was just sooo freaking tired… and then when I slept it was partially in fear of what was going to happened as soon as I closed my eyes.

I haven’t been inundating myself with horror recently, so I don’t know what gives… maybe it’s not enough horror.. maybe all the shit in my head is actually scaring me… hmm.. that would suck as there’s kind of a lot in there.

What I should really do is do a couple sober weeks again.. I think that helped me last time… and then be sure to do something more than chores the next day.. and then get to sleep on time.  Or play video games, all day.  Or watch more horror until I become desensitized again… those sound all reasonable things to do.

I ordered the Slip disc set from NIN before I left for the NORTH this last week… it was supposed to be delivered to work around July 29th.  I got back and Lorie thinks that it might have come, but it’s not on my desk and, like, where the hell else would it be?  The tracking info isn’t there on USPS, and I think Lorie is thinking about something else, and so today I wrote amazon this:

It is well passed the estimated arrival date and I haven’t seen this item.  USPS doesn’t have a record of this item in their online tracking information using the tracking number you gave me (9102127391979434370610).  I had this item shipped to my office, and no one here has seen it.  What can you do to get this item to me?

and about an hour later I got this:

———————————
Greetings from Amazon.com.

I am sorry that you have not received this order.

I can only imagine how frustrated you must be with us at this point,
I appreciate the admirable restraint you exercised in your message.
My sincere apologies for the time you have spent dealing with this issue.

It appears the package may be lost. Please accept our sincere apologies for this inconvenience.

I have placed a new order for the items. There will be no charge for this replacement.

Here are the details of the new order:

Order Number           : 104-0346080-2333857
Shipping Speed         : One-Day Shipping
Estimated Delivery Date: August 06, 2008.
———————————

… that, my friends (and other online retailers.. or those that would be such) is customer service.  That is what it’s all about.  That’s why I buy from Amazon and never worry.  Newegg is another such retailer.  They set the bar.

Hell.. I even kinda wanted to write back and say sorry for not thanking them for being so awesome