Owner: Life on the Blue Carpet URL:http://damianrochman.blogspot.com Join Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2007 04:56:24 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Life on the road and all the gadgets you can use to pass the time while you are delayed waiting for your flight… Site statistics:Click here
Interact With the TSA 2008-01-31 21:19:00 The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) decided to open a blog to "facilitate an ongoing dialogue on innovations in security, technology and the checkpoint screening process". Their blog is called Evolution of Security and they welcome travelers to comment on their posts. They got hundreds of comments on their first post!
BlackBerry Remote Stereo Gateway 2008-01-31 21:09:00 Pictures and the manual of the BlackBerryRemoteStereoGateway
surfaced on the FCC site. This little device from RIM connects to a music source on one end while on the other end transmits the stereo quality music to the multimedia capable BlackBerries over Bluetooth.
Google Maps Updated to v2.0.3 2008-03-12 17:19:00 There is a new version of Google
Maps available for your BlackBerry. The strange thing is that there's no change log for this version and no information on the Google Mobile blog about it. Another strange thing is that if you run the "Google Mobile Updater" doesn't notify you about this version. I've downloaded and installed on my BlackBerry so I can confirm at least that it works If you want to upgrade go directly to
Read more:Google Maps
Free Rooms At Amsterdam's Citizen M 2008-03-12 08:33:00 Back in October I blogged about the "Citizen
M" hotel that Philips was designing and that the first one will open in Amsterdam
during 2008. To celebrate its opening the hotel is giving away 100 free rooms!. There are two ways to earn a free stay: 1. Every 100th person who registers to become a "citizen" on their site will receive a free night. 2. The author of every 100th post to the Citizen Community forums will receive a free night.
Read more:Rooms
Yahoo's oneSearch with Voice Input! 2008-04-02 18:23:00 Yahoo! unveiled today a new version of their mobile application. The main enhancement in this version is the ability to initiate a search faster using text or voice. This version is available for BlackBerry devices like 88xx, Curve and Pearl. So how does this work? Just hold your "Talk" button and say what you are searching for and oneSearch will display the relevant results according to your location. For example say "Sushi" and you'll get the Zagat search results for sushi restaurants next to you, relevant categories and web search results. You can also search for other things such as flight numbers, locations, web sites and more! To download over the air, browse to
Read more:Yahoo
, Voice
Free TV Guide for your BlackBerry 2008-04-02 18:08:00 Handmark decided to change their pricing model for the TV Guide
and now it is offering it completely free (supported by ads in the application). After the short installation, you just need to setup your zip code and service provider and you have your TV lineup @ your fingertips... Full features: Access personalized enhanced listings with familiar TV-like interface Set program reminders by episode or series, all delivered as an SMS text message right to your phone Daily recommendations picked by TV Guide® Home and away options, see schedules for locations wherever you go Share a show with friends or family by forwarding listings Stay up to date with Hollywood news, and popular TV Guide® editorial columns To download over the air, browse from your Blac Read more:BlackBerry
Speed Trap Alerts on your BlackBerry 2008-04-01 18:18:00 Trapster found another use to your BlackBerry
GPS. Their little applications allows you to report via your BlackBerry (using the location of the GPS) when you spot a police car, red light camera, speed camera and a hiding police space. The information from all the users is stored in their database so when you are driving and use their application, it will alert if you are in the area of one of speed traps reported by other users of the community.
Read more:Speed
Sync Facebook Pics with Caller ID 2008-04-01 18:02:00 The BlackBerry allows you to associate a picture with your contacts so that picture pops up when they call. This is a nice feature but it's painful to manually set all these pictures and match them to your contacts. Vringo offers a cool Facebook
application that offers to automate this task. A "pre-release" version is available for early adopters to evaluate. Go to their site and register to get an email with instructions. Basically you need to add their Facebook application to your account and then download the client to your BlackBerry (or your Windows Mobile). Their Facebook application is easy to use. After configuring your phone number, you can upload your contacts and then they are matched to your Facebook friends in order to link their profile picture. Run the clien Read more:Caller
Free Theme: Wu's Special Blend 2008-04-01 16:27:00 Here is another nice free theme for your BlackBerry. It is available for both 83xx and 88xx BlackBerries. No OTA link, so you will need to download and install using your Desktop Manager. Enjoy! 83xx version 88xx version
Read more:Theme
, Special
, Blend
What Kind of Traveler Are You? 2008-04-04 15:15:00 The TSA is constantly looking for ways to expedite the security lanes and they are expending a pilot program that started in Salt Lake City to more and more airports. Last week they started this program in terminal C in RDU. The idea is to divide the travelers to 3 different types of groups to expedite the checkpoint: 1. Families and Special Assistance - This is for families traveling with children or passengers that needs special assistance. 2. Casual Traveler
- This lane is for travelers who are somewhat familiar with the procedures and have multiple carry-ons. 3. Expert Traveler - This is for the business travelers that fly almost every week and arrive ready to the checkpoint with all required items removed in advance. So you are probably saying to yourself that ever
The Human Footprint 2008-04-12 08:01:00 The first human shuttle went to space on October 4th 1957 and half a century later, hearths orbit looks like a junk yard. The European Space Agency (ESA) released some amazing simulation pictures of what our planet looks like from space. It is estimated that "only" 800 satellites are currently operational out of the 6,000 that were launched and still circle our planet. You can see here all the rest of the images.
Read more:Footprint
Free "Poker Blast" from Magmic 2008-04-13 08:51:00 Magmic is offering PokerBlast
for free for all BlackBerry users. Poker Blast is a mash of Poker and Tetris: As the cards fall down you need to place them and create the highest poker hand you can either horizontally or vertically. Once the winning hand is creating the cards will "explode" and you will get points. It can be a little confusing in the beginning, but highly addictive as it makes you use your poker skills fast. From Magmic: Everything you thought you knew about poker is exploding in this high-pressure puzzle game. Test and hone your ability to quickly size up poker situations in this game of falling and sorting cards. Position the falling card pieces into rows or columns to make poker hands. After scoring some cash by making hands, the minimum winning hand will
How to Dial Phone Numbers with Letters 2008-04-13 08:39:00 Many companies advertise their 800 numbers using letters instead of numbers. The problem is that BlackBerry users do not have the traditional 3 letters per number key like a regular cellular so it makes it a little confusing when you need to call the CO Platinum desk to reschedule your canceled flight . This problem is solved by simply holding the ALT key down while typing the letters in the phone application. You can even add numbers to your address book this way for speed dialing! You can read more information about this in the RIM knowledgeable.
Read more:Numbers
, Letters
Bookmark This! 2008-04-13 08:30:00 I find myself browsing the Internet from my BlackBerry more and more. Although it is not as perfect as the Internet experience on the iPhone, it still gives you access to what you need on the road. Cellular phones are now becoming portals to information and more Web sites are creating a mobile version of their content for the smartphone users. Here's a list of mobile Web sites I compiled form different sources that you can use to create your mobile bookmarks: Business American Express Bank of America Barclays Business Week E*TRADE Fidelity New York Post PayPal Scottrade Slate StreetIQ Mobile theStreet.com Wachovia Read more:Bookmark
The Lighter Side of TSA 2008-04-14 13:32:00 It is funny to see that Playmobil created this toy to educate the kids on what the travel experience looks like today. For only $8.99, the "Playmobil Security Check Point" will teach your kids what they need to do when they need to fly the next time. The even funnier part is reading the comments on this product on Amazon (although the product is no longer available through them): "I was a little disappointed when I first bought this item, because the functionality is limited. My 5 year old son pointed out that the passenger's shoes cannot be removed. Then, we placed a deadly fingernail file underneath the passenger's scarf, and neither the detector doorway nor the security wand picked it up. My son said "that's the worst security ever!"." "This toy woul
FINAL! Delta and Northwest to Merge 2008-04-15 09:13:00 After long discussions that collapsed due to disagreement between the two pilot unions on seniority and ranking, Delta
and Northwest
reached an agreement on their all stock merge to become the biggest airline. The new company will be called Delta and the Delta CEO will be the new CEO, keeping the company headquarters in Atlanta. The company announced that no hubs will be closed which means that the direct flight possibilities with the merged company will be great. This page can show you what this means to you. It gives a great breakdown by state and airport showing all the direct destinations you will have. Check the New Global Airline web site that they created with all the relevant info and FAQ. Maybe it is time to abandon Continental and ask Delta to match my status?
A World Without Internet 2008-04-17 15:34:00 "One day the citizens of South Park wake up and find the Internet
is gone. When Randy hears there may still be some Internet out in California, he packs up his family and heads west." This was last night's episode on South Park. On the episode titled "Over Logging", the world almost ends after no one can connect to the Internet. The brave Kyle comes to the rescue and saves the Internet in a genius move. I don't want to spoil how it goes so just watch the whole episode for yourself or preview this short clip from the episode:
Read more:World
, World Without
Viigo Releases Teaser for Project Tango 2008-04-17 15:15:00 Viigo the creator of the most popular RSS reader for the BlackBerry has been working for the last 18 months on "ProjectTango
". This project is targeted to be released in a couple of months but you can see today a teaser of what is expected and also register in the same page for the beta (the beta will be released mid-may). Project Tango will be a portal to all the information you need on your BlackBerry. In addition to the RSS feeds you will be able to access: Audio Podcasts, Live sports scores & standings, weather, flight status, hotel ratings and conference information.
Read more:Teaser
Meet Mr. DoNotReply 2008-04-17 09:19:00 Have you ever replied to an email from a company even though the email specifically said something like: "Please do not reply to this email. This is an unattended mailbox"? Many companies send such emails with a reply-to address that contains the domain "donotreply.com" thinking that this is a fake domain and the mail will just bounce back to whoever decided to respond. The problem is that this is a real domain and is owned by a guy called Chet Faliszek. This guy is receiving millions of emails from people that decide to respond and these emails contain a lot of interesting information like bank account data, contracts and more. You can read the full article about this that was published by the Washington Post. You can also check Chet's blog to read about the interest
Free - OANDA FXConverter 2008-04-16 18:34:00 OANDA FXConverter Mobile provides a free real-time currency conversions for 164 currencies right on your BlackBerry. To download OTA, browse to
WHERE Widgets for your BlackBerry 2008-04-16 18:26:00 WHERE provides a lot of GPS powered widgets. These widgets provide you different services that are powered by the GPS in your BlackBerry
. The application is easy to install (and free) and you can add widgets to your view either from their web page or directly from the application on your BlackBerry. Here's a few examples of the available widgets: GasBuddy - Find cheap gas around your location. Zipcar - Find Zipcar locations near you. Eventful - Discover different events in your area. Brewery Finder - Find the closest brewery to your location. More and more... There are also nice and useless widgets like "Digging to China". This widget will show you where you will end up if you start digging a hole in your current location . The WHERE Developer Program allows the
American Airlines Joins the Blogosphere 2008-04-16 16:42:00 American Airlines
follows Delta and opens their own blog in order to provide news to their passengers. The blog is titled "AA Conversations", and not surprisingly the first post had to apologize for the 3,000 flights they had to cancel during April due to maintenance of their MD-80 fleet. Another web site that shows internal news and stories from American Airlines is "Tell Your AA Story", which was created by "a group of concerned American Airlines employees".
Read more:American
, Blogosphere
The State of the Air 2008-04-16 09:49:00 The air travel industry went through a lot of changes in the last month or so: Companies closing, going bankrupt and one merger (so far...). The good people from The Consumerist published this nice cheat sheet to help you remember who works with who and who does not fly anymore.
Read more:State
Mergermania 2008-04-16 09:42:00 A few months ago, when Delta and Northwest started discussing the option to merge the rumors were that 30-60 days after that happen Continental will announce a merger with United. So now that this merger is announced we will have to wait and see if this will actually happen. Another thing that you can do is use this nice flash application available from Bloomberg and see how different mergers could look like. It is very interesting to use the facts available there and see how it affects the market.
More on Readius 2008-04-18 14:18:00 I posted before about Readius from Polymer Vision. Now you can see here a video of this little eBook to see that this is not just concept but actually a working product:
Windows Server 2008 Unleashed 2008-04-18 08:35:00 Microsoft is ramping the marketing efforts to push enterprises to the new Windows
Server 2008. They created a very nice Web site build with Silverlight with all the information you need and some cool movies that show what the server looks like Videos: Windows Server
2008 Unleashed
(.wmv) Crouching Robot (.wmv) | Exerciser (.wmv)
Microsoft Surface in Action 2008-04-20 13:19:00 I had a chance to see the Microsoft
Surface in action while I visited Microsoft's booth in CES this year. This product provides an innovative and interactive experience for a user to find information about products and a chance to customize the product before purchasing it. The first retail store to showcase their merchandise using this product is the AT&T. AT&T will start a pilot in some of the wireless retails stores in the major cities and depending on the success will expand the usage to the rest of their 2,200 U.S. retails stores. You can see in this short clip the Microsoft Surface in action in one of the AT&T retails stores:
Read more:Action
AirTranica 2008-04-21 18:31:00 In case you didn't hear any news today, Danica Patrick became the first female to win an IndyCar Series after she won the Bridgestone Indy Japan 300 race in Montegi Japan. AirTran, decided to transform one of their Boeing 717 to the "AirTranica" in her honor .The plan took off from Orlando this morning heading to Pittsburgh and expected to continue to Atlanta. AirTran is also giving the A+ Rewards members an option to be a guest of her pit crew in one of the upcoming races.
Over 170 Free Games for your BlackBerry 2008-04-21 15:35:00 The good friends from BBGeeks compiled a list of over 170 free games for your BlackBerry
so you can enjoy some down time if you don't have emails to read or you are on the plane and cannot get emails (yet ).
Read more:Games
Tellme for BlackBerry 2008-04-23 06:37:00 Move over Yahoo! oneSearch, Tellme
(A Microsoft Subsidiary) released their voice search application for BlackBerry
! Using Tellme you can easily use your voice to get GPS directions, traffic information, maps, businesses, movies, weather and more all on your BlackBerry. Unlike Yahoo! oneSearch (where you need to configure you location), Tellme actually use uses the GPS in your BlackBerry to acquire your location and give you relevant search results. Browse from your BlackBerry to
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