Wed, February 2, 2005 - 5:54:00 pm

Cingular Treo 650

I finally ordered the Treo 650. I got it from Cingular B2B and had it shipped overnight so it should be here on Thursday or Friday. I'm excited about the potential of this phone as mobile email and web are important to me. I intend to apply a hack to the Dial Up Networking to allow me to get online with my powerbook at EDGE speeds. This has been done successfully by Treo 650 owners so we'll see if I can get it to work. I'll be reporting back with initial thoughts as soon as I get the phone.

Fri, January 21, 2005 - 2:54:00 am

Taxi WiFi

An interesting thing happened to me on the way to a meeting today. I was running late so I decided that my best bet would be a cab. Normally, when in a cab I use my bluetooth to connect my Powerbook to my cellphone and connect to T-Mobile's GPRS network for data transfer. This normally works fine except that today I needed to download a rather large file from my machine at the office. Being that the speeds of GPRS seldom exceed 33.6kbs I needed a faster connection. While sitting at a traffic light I managed to utilize someone's open wireless network "linksys". This is the default name for the wireless network on Linksys routers which, also by default, are left unsecured. I was able to stay logged on long enough to log into the work machine and download the file.

While cruising along I realized that there were many open "linksys" networks along 3rd Avenue. Each time I stopped at a light my machine would attach itself to "linksys" and I was up and running again. Being that the machine is assigned a new IP address and must negotiate with the router each time it's not as seamless as it sounds.

It's not a sure fire bet and much less ideal then the potential of systems like Wi-Max but in the mean time the free access of unsecured networks coupled with the traffic and stoplights of NYC makes for decent internet access while on the road.

Wed, December 29, 2004 - 7:24:00 pm

Tsunami Disaster Relief

There are quite a few ways for us to help the countries and people affected by the tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean. It's hard to put it into perspective but currently the death toll is at 80,000 and these people can really use our help.

• American Red Cross International Response Fund
• AmeriCares South Asia Earthquake Relief Fund
• Direct Relief International International Assistance Fund
• Médecins Sans Frontières International Tsunami Emergency Appeal
• Oxfam Asian Earthquake & Tsunami Fund
• Sarvodaya Relief Fund for Tsunami Tragedy
• UNICEF South Asia Tsunami Relief Efforts

Wed, December 22, 2004 - 5:13:00 pm

Apple iPhone

MobileWhack: "Rumours that Apple is making their own phone (dubbed by the pundits the 'iPhone') are flying around the net, backed up by reports that they're showing prototypes around to their partners. These rumours are probably true -- for one simple reason -- the iPod."

For me, this device would be a sure buy. I am an Apple Macintosh user who has been looking for a solid replacement for my SonyEricsson T610 for about 6 months now. I've been tempted by the Treo 650 but PalmOne's lack of continuing support for the Mac OS is a little discouraging. I've also been interested in the SonyEricsson P910i but it's $800 price tag is keeping me away. Hopefully MobileWhack is correct in their prediction and if so, that this new iPhone be release sooner rather than later considering my T610 is on it's last leg

Mon, December 20, 2004 - 1:58:00 pm

The New Office of Phuture Design Inc.

This photo was primarily taken to show the floors but here is a sense of the new offices for Phuture Design Inc. Our new address is 1123 Broadway, Suite 1015, New York, NY 10010. It's a big step for us and we're really excited about it. Now, off to Ikea to furnish the new digs.

Thu, December 16, 2004 - 3:43:00 pm

Housing starts fall 13% in November

Housing starts fall 13% in November - Dec. 16, 2004: "Housing starts took their biggest tumble in almost 11 years in November, raising worries about the housing market and the strength of home prices in the long run." This is good news for Asia and I as we plan on buying a house over the next year or so. While interest rates will surely go up with time it's a big concern of ours that the inflated housing costs will cause us to lose money. We would rather purchase a home at a lower cost now and possibly refinance when/if interest rates lower over the life of our mortgage than lose money on the value of the house itself. Does anyone have any advice on this?

Wed, December 15, 2004 - 7:07:00 pm

Congratulations Kelvin and Anna!

I guess this is coming a little late but I'd like to congratulate Kelvin and Anna on their recent wedding. Not only was it great to see two great friends get married but they put together a great party for everyone else. Good luck and congratulations to them once again.

Sat, December 11, 2004 - 1:27:00 pm

MarsEdit Image Management

This is a test of the image upload system from MarsEdit. So far it seems pretty rockin! MarsEdit will take care of uploading the file to your sever along with providing you with the proper code to link the file into the post. While I didn't mind managing this process through Movable Type it's just easier to have access through one simple tool on my desktop.

Fri, December 10, 2004 - 10:05:00 pm

MarsEdit 1.0

Ranchero Software has just released MarsEdit 1.0 which I'm using to write this post as we speak. This new piece of OS X software allows you to create blog posts right from the OS rather than opening a web browser. This is convenient as it requires less time to create the posts which means that I may be able to keep the site updated a little more frequently. We'll see.

Mon, November 22, 2004 - 4:13:00 pm

New Office Space

As you may be aware I run a small web development shop called Phuture Design. Currently we are in our final stages of securing office space in Manhattan and if all goes well we should have a lease signed within a weeks time. This will allow for a possible December 15th move in. The benefits of this new space are plenty. A New York City mailing address. No need to relocate the business to New Jersey if we decide to move our residence there. I can bring the dog and there is a dog park across the street. A meeting place for clients. A daily commute. While the daily commute may sound like a total downer, the truth is working from home has made me a little stir-crazy. It will be nice to get dressed and go into the city everyday seeing people on the streets and in the office building. More to come on the office space including photos and address over the next few weeks. Stay tuned.

Wed, November 10, 2004 - 4:18:00 pm

G5

I never really had a chance to post on the performance of my new dual 2.5ghz G5 Powermac from Apple Computer. It truly is an amazing machine, super quick and beautiful to look at. The increase in performance over my 12" Powerbook G4 is remarkable. Photoshop starts up in no time and I can quickly and easily switch between Illustrator and Flash with only 1GB of memory installed. I have the machine attached to a 23" Apple Cinema Display and a 16.1" Sony LCD display and the video performance is fantastic. Great resolution and millions of colors on both displays. Both also hooked up using digital (ADC and DVI) connections. The USB and Firewire ports on the back of the Cinema Display are really handy but I wish there was one more of each on the back of the actual Powermac case. There is only one Firewire 400 port back there and I find that slightly limiting. Overall I would highly recommend any flavor of the G5 processor to anyone looking for a new desktop machine. It's quick and snappy and makes for a great computing experience.

Thu, August 26, 2004 - 2:17:00 pm

G5 Ordered

So I ordered my G5 but it won't be here until the middle of September. I also ordered the 23" Cinema Display, which I already received. I really can't imagine going back to a smaller monitor after using this thing. A big (literally) improvment over the 12" Powerbook screen I had been using as my primary monitor. I'll report in more detail on the G5 when it arrives.

Mon, August 9, 2004 - 6:07:00 pm

The Joy of Curry

I've discovered a great new thing. Well, actually Asia discovered it, but I'm having it for lunch. It's curry chicken salad. I'm not normally a chicken salad kind of guy but this is really good. I got it at Boerum Hill Food Company. A small restaurant with tasty, home made food. Try some if you can get it.

Thu, July 29, 2004 - 12:29:00 pm

Dual 2.5Ghz G5’s Shipping

It looks like Apple will be shipping the first wave of consumer 2.5 Ghz G5's this coming Friday. While some corporate accounts already received their orders many consumers have been waiting for quite some time now for the machines to ship. I will be ordering one once I hear the reviews of the machines as it's a new configuration and aparently dependent on 10.3.5, an OS update. I'll keep this site posted on my thoughts on the new machine.