Last week I was traveling on the east coast and staying with a friend while working from the road. About 4 days into my trip, my Blackberry went haywire. If someone called me, the call history would immediately delete the entry. When I received an email, if I didn’t do something about it within 6 hours, the message would disappear – and horrifically end up in the trash folder, ready for deletion, on the IMAP server. The last and most tragic piece was appointments I added to the calendar just vanished when I sync’d back up with my laptop.

As panic set in about lost appointments, messages and calls – I discovered the culprit – applications. As a social media junkie, I’ve installed a number of applications, many I use almost daily, but some far less often. Applications like Yahoo! Go have been replaced with a native Flickr app which better provides the functionality I was using. A test run of tinyTwitter to replace TwitterBerry that failed and a host of other applications left the system with very little available memory. On top of that, I’d been using the native BlackBerry version of Google Maps extensively to figure out where I was and where I was going throughout the trip building a huge cache of local map data that I could review while in subways. What finally tipped me off that the system was out of memory, was when I attempted to install the MySpace application and was told there was insufficient space. I deleted a few applications and all was well with the world.

Two come to mind after this experience. First, I wish I could install apps on the 2Gb media card I have in the phone, like I do with photos. Second, some sort of notice about low main memory would have been a nice! I’m chalking this one up to a learning experience and if I’ve missed a call or appointment – you might want to call me again.

Right now I think I’d rather have a Tesla Roadster than an iPhone. Sure that’s a bold statement considering I can afford an iPhone and not a roadster but I think the car takes the cake for innovation. Being a huge fan of technology and cars I’ve drooling over this car since I first heard about it about a year ago and now that they’re “available” I’m equally as excited to see what they do with the sedan rumored for 2010 production.

See what the hype is about in these videos.

I’m an Apple fan boy. I switched with at dawn of OS X and haven’t looked back. I love the iPhone for it’s style and functionality – but when it comes right down to it – I’m not compelled to buy a new phone that’s really only moderately better than the last version. Sure GPS is great (I’ve got that now) and the touch screen is amazing – but I’m going to be sticking with my Blackberry for a while longer. I might go out and get that iPod Touch I’ve been thinking about instead because it doesn’t look like true improvements in the device are happening anytime soon. Information week has a few other reasons not to upgrade. If I do need a new phone (let’s hope not this one’s hardy 2 months old) I may venture over to the Nokia store and see what they have to offer.

Brian Nadel recently wrote a nice article comparing broadband service from the big three wireless carriers, AT&T, Verizon and Nextel. Normally I have good connectivity within my house through my local cable carrier and don’t mind paying for airport WiFi once in a while. I’ll be traveling to the Northern Virginia area in the next month and want to have a broadband connect card as an option for connecting wirelessly. The $300/night hotel I’m staying in doesn’t offer free WiFi, instead it’s a $10/day T-Mobile hotspot. Add that together with the fees from the airport (Boingo) it comes up to a hefty $80 for internet service while away from home for a single week!

In Brian’s article he mentioned that AT&T had an $80 option for those adverse to a 1 or 2 year commitment. Intrigued I stopped by my local AT&T store and was given a bunch of misinformation that differed even from the information I was able to read on the AT&T site. 2 calls to AT&T later I was still unable to get the $80/month plan mentioned. I asked my sales consultant if there was an option to add it onto an existing line of service which could be upgraded and downgraded as needed based on my travel patterns and still no luck. At least a 1 year commitment is required. I was able to get an offer of a month to month with no discount on the card plan (which is to be expected) for $29.95/month with a 10Mb data allowance. Unfortunately the overage charges are outrageous ($0.06/kb). A single webpage might end up costing $2 to $3 to view!

There are companies that are catering to my more specific needs – a short term “rental” but they’re making a hefty profit on the service. I found two services, one which I wouldn’t even think about giving my credit card information to. The other, Rovair, seems to have a nice product offering, comparable with purchasing WiFi cost wise – but of course with the added convenience of your own dedicated connection.

Verizon and Nextel only offer plans with contracts as well. Verizon does have a 1 year options and Nextel locks you in for 2. So now I’m back to considering my options with pay as you go WiFi and spotty EDGE connectivity through my paired Blackberry and probably the most economical – going without <shudder />.

I’ve been experimenting with twitter a lot lately. Generally, I find it’s something I use more away from my computer than while I’m at it. However, I’ve been frustrated by my mobile experience more than a few times and I’m not sure where to head next. I have a BlackBerry Curve with service via AT&T. I’m reasonably happy with the phone. If you think of twitter as SMS² you’ll start to understand how I’ve been using it. When I’m at my computer, I reach out to individuals, I connect with co-workers via IM, Skype, Email, Facebook, MySpace etc. When I’m away from the full glory of my machine, I do lighter communication – SMS and twitter. Keep in mind, this is a generalization.

Currently as a BlackBerry user, you’ve got a few options for accessing twitter (options are good right?), each of which I’ll get into more detail about below:

1. m.twitter.com – the mobile phone optimized version
2. twitter.com – the full blown site
3. TinyTwitter
4. TwitterBerry
5. GTalk

This chart summarizes my experience using the different methods of accessing twitter, but keep reading for more detail.

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Mark Hendrickson of TechCrunch did a really nice summary of the live blog notes from the Apple iPhone roadmap event this morning. Unfortunately, as consumers we’re left to wait until June until we can actually get our hands on all the 3rd party application goodness that’s likely to spring forth. Application developers can get their hands on the SDK now. Guess I’ll be sticking with the Blackberry for a while yet.

I’m onto my third Blackberry in the last 12 months (my second in 30 days) and I’ve put this together as a list of the applications that I constantly need to re-install as I’m getting the device back up and running. If anyone has some that should be on the radar, please let me know.

• Google Maps – The built in GPS + Google Maps = navigation!!!
• Twitterberry – Twitter on the go
• OperaMini – While the built in browser works, this gets the sites that aren’t so handheld friendly.
• Y! Go – I’m a huge fan of Flickr and use this to title, tag and upload photos.
• AT&T Blackberry Start – AT&T’s website for changing the device (without redoing all your email setup)

For anyone using their device as hard as I do, I recommend picking up a microSD card for photos and ring-tones (if your into that sort of thing.) It’s always easier to swap the card out than fight with buying and downloading them again.

Recently I looked at my headphones when packing for a trip. They are six year old Bose QC-1 – the original QuietComfort noise canceling – they still sound wonderful. While figuring out which essentials I wanted inside the airplane cabin, laptop, book, pen & paper, iPod… I wasn’t sure if I should put my huge headphones in the computer bag along with their bulky case adapters spare batteries and the like, or just check them. They really are big – as one would expect from an over the ear headphone – and have a lot of “stuff” that goes along with them.

I bought these headphones when I was working in an open office environment. I wore them primarily at my desk to reduce the drone of co-workers and office automation equipment- think Office Space – so I could focus on my tasks. Now, I work from home and occasionally use the headphones for Skype and iChat, long plane rides without the family, working in the yard and the gym. I still enjoy music, but it’s rarely a personal experience for me anymore.

Every day I spend hours working on finding the right solution for the problem at hand. This manifests itself in finding more efficient algorithms, better resource allocation, better communication structures and the like – all creative problem solving which at it’s core is about choosing the right technology for the job. Why shouldn’t I do the same with my personal technology once in a while? After all, it’s the sense of accomplishment when something works well AND efficiently that keeps me up late at night, excited to work on a project.

My headphone technology was no longer serving it’s purpose. My requirements and needs had changed. The Bose QC-1’s were no longer the right tool for the job. It was time to make it more efficient. In algorithmic terms, the Bubble sort was no longer working, it was time to improve the performance; time to upgrade to a Quicksort. I required portability, decent sound quality and significantly reduced size. I had only one of the 3 basic requirements, decent sound, met.

I now work differently and am more mobile. The headphones I use should be too. I had decided it was time to say goodbye and replace them with something smaller and easier to travel with. My headphones shouldn’t be bigger than the device that’s powering them. The QC-1’s went up on eBay and I began the search for something smaller, lighter and easier to live with. Any audiophiles want to chime in on what would be a good replacement? I can’t wear ear buds (they fall out of my ears) and don’t like on ear headphones. In-ear buds seem to be the best option for me and I’d love to hear your thoughts.