Well, my first project with the blog up and running so it'll be a learning experience for all of us. Feel free to comment with ways you'd like to see this presented. Here's my hope for a first try format:
Step 1: Pre-Project Post - Give reason for project, goals, expected timeline, and any up-front research materials and costs.
Step 2: In-Project Posts - Posts within the project that will include progress, pictures, costs, and issues. Not sure how often these will come, probably once a day maybe...we'll see. If you're interested in mid-project information, follow me on Twitter.
Step 3: Wrap up - This post will be written so that somebody with the same problem can follow this single post from start to finish and hopefully do the same thing with minimal problems.
So there we go, this is the first post on the first project...so be gentle.
Project Name: Vents
Project Type: Ford Explorer
Project Reason: The vents in the Explorer will not change from blowing out of the defrost and the floor to the panel vents. Very not cool for the A/C season!
Project Cost: $0
Project Timeline: 5-10hrs over 1-2days
Project Starting: Evening of 5/30/2010
Initial Resources: http://www.justanswer.com/questions/3814k-2003-ford-explorer-only-blows-air-from-the-dash-vents-switch
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Potpourri
Hello All!
Sorry I've not posted for a while, part of it was because I didn't have much to write about, part of it was because this blog was created to document projects which I haven't done many of recently, but most of all I've just been lazy and forgetful. However, I'm about to embark on a project which I hope it to be the first one which I fully document...we'll see how it goes.
So I will post a short introduction to the project next, which is going to be trying to fix my vent system on the Explorer, as right now it's stuck on defrost and floor and it's getting hot and the A/C is not very useful on that setting.
Also, here is a quick follow-up to my previous post about Integrated technology...it may not be a phone, but it at least runs on a phone OS...it's a start.
That's right, when docked it's a fully functional netbook with Windows 7, and if you remove the screen you get an Android powered tablet...how cool!
Let's see, what else to mention of things I've found in the recent findings...
- Worldmate Travel App on the Blackberry is pretty cool, for free you can forward your confirmation emails of your flights, cars, and hotels and it scours the emails and displays all your travel details in an app complete with confirmation numbers, phone numbers, and maps to the hotel...very handy.
- I'm currently downloading BitBop, which claims to offer free TV streaming to mobile devices and acts like a little DVR for the phone so you can set which shows to show up.
- The wife's android phone got upgraded finally to Android 2.1, days of course to when Android 2.2 was announced (Froyo). Lots of cool features added, a few interesting bugs added, all and all good update. Google Navigation is a very amazing beta...can't wait til they put more time into it.
- Just started working with Trapster a little bit, it adds a new layer to your google maps basically alerting you of all the speed traps, cameras, and regulated speed zones in your upcoming path. It's all driven by other users, so it works best in well populated areas. I still haven't found a good mounting solution for either phone yet so I have yet to use it to it's full potential...we'll get there.
- OurGroceries is a great app that keeps lists...kinda like the Maratick that I talked about before. However, this one allows you to connect your lists with another persons, which means when you open it you get anything the other person has added! How fantastic for families who want to keep an updated grocery list for everybody who's grocery shopping. We've linked my Blackberry App with the wife's Android app...everything working as promised. Just make sure to close the app down fully otherwise it'll chew up battery and bandwidth as it's always checking...Push functionality anyone?
At the risk of this becoming a Blackberry Blog, I'll stop here by mentioning that it looks like I weasled my way into a Blackberry upgrade to go along with a laptop upgrade, so soon I might have a few more apps to play with and report on along with some Windows 7 pros/cons.
Beyond that, look forward to a project post here soon and I'll try to post some daily updates.
Sorry I've not posted for a while, part of it was because I didn't have much to write about, part of it was because this blog was created to document projects which I haven't done many of recently, but most of all I've just been lazy and forgetful. However, I'm about to embark on a project which I hope it to be the first one which I fully document...we'll see how it goes.
So I will post a short introduction to the project next, which is going to be trying to fix my vent system on the Explorer, as right now it's stuck on defrost and floor and it's getting hot and the A/C is not very useful on that setting.
Also, here is a quick follow-up to my previous post about Integrated technology...it may not be a phone, but it at least runs on a phone OS...it's a start.
That's right, when docked it's a fully functional netbook with Windows 7, and if you remove the screen you get an Android powered tablet...how cool!
Let's see, what else to mention of things I've found in the recent findings...
- Worldmate Travel App on the Blackberry is pretty cool, for free you can forward your confirmation emails of your flights, cars, and hotels and it scours the emails and displays all your travel details in an app complete with confirmation numbers, phone numbers, and maps to the hotel...very handy.
- I'm currently downloading BitBop, which claims to offer free TV streaming to mobile devices and acts like a little DVR for the phone so you can set which shows to show up.
- The wife's android phone got upgraded finally to Android 2.1, days of course to when Android 2.2 was announced (Froyo). Lots of cool features added, a few interesting bugs added, all and all good update. Google Navigation is a very amazing beta...can't wait til they put more time into it.
- Just started working with Trapster a little bit, it adds a new layer to your google maps basically alerting you of all the speed traps, cameras, and regulated speed zones in your upcoming path. It's all driven by other users, so it works best in well populated areas. I still haven't found a good mounting solution for either phone yet so I have yet to use it to it's full potential...we'll get there.
- OurGroceries is a great app that keeps lists...kinda like the Maratick that I talked about before. However, this one allows you to connect your lists with another persons, which means when you open it you get anything the other person has added! How fantastic for families who want to keep an updated grocery list for everybody who's grocery shopping. We've linked my Blackberry App with the wife's Android app...everything working as promised. Just make sure to close the app down fully otherwise it'll chew up battery and bandwidth as it's always checking...Push functionality anyone?
At the risk of this becoming a Blackberry Blog, I'll stop here by mentioning that it looks like I weasled my way into a Blackberry upgrade to go along with a laptop upgrade, so soon I might have a few more apps to play with and report on along with some Windows 7 pros/cons.
Beyond that, look forward to a project post here soon and I'll try to post some daily updates.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Installed Apps on my Blackberry
So I'm about to embark on a new OS for my Blackberry Curve 8900, and I always do a full wipe when I do this. I say always, but really I've only done this once before. Things worked out really well for me last time so I don't have many worries. This time I'm going to take it a step farther and install a hybrid OS. This is where a really smart dude takes the binary files for all the Blackberry OS files he can get his hands on and take bits and pieces creating a masterpiece of wonder for your phone. Supposed to help battery life, general issues, and memory optimization. Of course, due to the full wipe, it's time to document which apps will get re-installed afterward. So I thought I might write up a post to highlight my list. Hope it helps somebody someday.
Social Media
Facebook
LinkedIn
Foursquare
Twitter
Mapping / GPS
Google Maps
Blackstar - Geocaching and GPS waypoint logger
BBGPSGolf - Golfing GPS application which allows you to map out a golf course before hitting the links using Google Maps satellite view. Pretty awesome app for golfers.
Utilities
BBWeather - Free weather app, icon changes with conditions, and auto-updates location based on GPS signal
YouMail - Free Visual Voicemail service!!
XE Curreny - Keep track of currency exchange around the world...gotta keep an eye on that Euro!
Pandora
TwinsBaseball.com - Gotta keep track of my World Series bound team
MaraTick - Simple checklist app
Navita Translator - Handy when in Europe in case you forgot how to say something
FileScout - File Explorer App
Google Talk
Microsoft Live
Blackberry App World
Games
Baby Go! - Simple game that locks out your phone and says the letters to your child.
On the Bubble
Not sure if I'll be putting these back on or not, but I figured just in case I need the names I'll throw them down.
Scanlife - 1D Barcode Reader
Beetagg - 2D Barcode Reader
Viigo - News/RSS Feeds
Well that's about it, here's hoping it goes well again, nothing like getting IT ticked off at me on a Friday. :)
Huh? What? Did I forget something? OH!! RIGHT!! THEMES!
Well I only use one, but it would have been rough had I lost it and had to go refind it again. The best thing I can find for the name is com_plazmic_theme_Blackberry_Prov3...interesting. Basically it's a dark theme, it has quick shortcuts for Messages, Calendar, Browser, Options, and Profiles built into the bottom row. I can preview items like Messages and Calendar, and then on top of that I have 5 more configurable icons I can place on the main page. Along with a Weather icon that will show up in the top corner. It's pretty sweet....
Social Media
Foursquare
Mapping / GPS
Google Maps
Blackstar - Geocaching and GPS waypoint logger
BBGPSGolf - Golfing GPS application which allows you to map out a golf course before hitting the links using Google Maps satellite view. Pretty awesome app for golfers.
Utilities
BBWeather - Free weather app, icon changes with conditions, and auto-updates location based on GPS signal
YouMail - Free Visual Voicemail service!!
XE Curreny - Keep track of currency exchange around the world...gotta keep an eye on that Euro!
Pandora
TwinsBaseball.com - Gotta keep track of my World Series bound team
MaraTick - Simple checklist app
Navita Translator - Handy when in Europe in case you forgot how to say something
FileScout - File Explorer App
Google Talk
Microsoft Live
Blackberry App World
Games
Baby Go! - Simple game that locks out your phone and says the letters to your child.
On the Bubble
Not sure if I'll be putting these back on or not, but I figured just in case I need the names I'll throw them down.
Scanlife - 1D Barcode Reader
Beetagg - 2D Barcode Reader
Viigo - News/RSS Feeds
Well that's about it, here's hoping it goes well again, nothing like getting IT ticked off at me on a Friday. :)
Huh? What? Did I forget something? OH!! RIGHT!! THEMES!
Well I only use one, but it would have been rough had I lost it and had to go refind it again. The best thing I can find for the name is com_plazmic_theme_Blackberry_Prov3...interesting. Basically it's a dark theme, it has quick shortcuts for Messages, Calendar, Browser, Options, and Profiles built into the bottom row. I can preview items like Messages and Calendar, and then on top of that I have 5 more configurable icons I can place on the main page. Along with a Weather icon that will show up in the top corner. It's pretty sweet....
Saturday, April 3, 2010
The Future of Integrated Technology
So I was talking with my father over the phone the other day, and if you wonder where you came from just look at your parents and you'll probably see yourself. Anybody who knows me knows that this is definately the case when it comes to me. My father and I have spent a number of nights thinking up 30 different ways to solve problems, and this past evening was no exception aside from one critical detail. This time my father came to me with an idea that was rooted in state-of-the-art technology. Before I reveal to you his idea, you must understand my father. He has a computer which connects to the internet via dial-up, the majority of the phones in his house are rotary, and in order for him to get a cell phone I had to thrust it into his hand and say it was paid for. I think you get the idea, so now you're prepared to understand the importance of him having this idea.
He's been watching my wife and I playing with our new smartphones, and he thought about how powerful just the phones were getting nowadays. He thought it would be a pretty good idea if you came home, you plugged your cell phone into the home docking station and then immediately all the already installed home phones routed through the cell phone. Then you could have an external monitor and keyboard, and the phone could basically be your computer. This would especially be useful for those of us that just use the computer to surf the web, read email, perhaps writing some letters. I thought this was a fantastic idea, and figured there might be such a beast already. As it turns out, my assumption was half correct. First, to make the home phones route through your cell phone, it seems the best option in this market is the Dock-N-Talk from PhoneLabs. It connects to your phone through bluetooth, and basically makes all the landline phones just like a bluetooth headset.
The second half of his idea has not seemed to come into existence yet, however there is no lack of people that would love to have this ability. Like I've already written about, my wife has the Samsung Moment with an 800mhz processor...I think it'd be fantastic to have a monitor + keyboard for this platform. The closest thing to this is the netbooks that have started to get popular. There are even a few out there running Android on a netbook. However, a netbook still doesn't fix the problem of the need to eventually have to walk out the door and you need something to fit in your pocket. So far I haven't seen much in the way of a product that fits into this product realm.
So if you know of something like this on the horizon please let me know, this sounds like a great combination of technology and accessories.
Oh, and Dad? Just to let you know last night when we talked about you not owning a dedicated CD player? You have 2, both of them are my old stereos you have setup in the garage. :)
He's been watching my wife and I playing with our new smartphones, and he thought about how powerful just the phones were getting nowadays. He thought it would be a pretty good idea if you came home, you plugged your cell phone into the home docking station and then immediately all the already installed home phones routed through the cell phone. Then you could have an external monitor and keyboard, and the phone could basically be your computer. This would especially be useful for those of us that just use the computer to surf the web, read email, perhaps writing some letters. I thought this was a fantastic idea, and figured there might be such a beast already. As it turns out, my assumption was half correct. First, to make the home phones route through your cell phone, it seems the best option in this market is the Dock-N-Talk from PhoneLabs. It connects to your phone through bluetooth, and basically makes all the landline phones just like a bluetooth headset.
The second half of his idea has not seemed to come into existence yet, however there is no lack of people that would love to have this ability. Like I've already written about, my wife has the Samsung Moment with an 800mhz processor...I think it'd be fantastic to have a monitor + keyboard for this platform. The closest thing to this is the netbooks that have started to get popular. There are even a few out there running Android on a netbook. However, a netbook still doesn't fix the problem of the need to eventually have to walk out the door and you need something to fit in your pocket. So far I haven't seen much in the way of a product that fits into this product realm.
So if you know of something like this on the horizon please let me know, this sounds like a great combination of technology and accessories.
Oh, and Dad? Just to let you know last night when we talked about you not owning a dedicated CD player? You have 2, both of them are my old stereos you have setup in the garage. :)
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Blackberry App Development - My Beginnings
Journey to the center of Blackberry Application Development: Part I
I started using a blackberry for the first time August of 2009 when I firmly requested I get to use one for work. I'm thankful that I joined the Blackberry community when I did, because I'm not sure how I would have liked the older berries. I currently run a Curve 8900, and even that I feel I should have held out just a few more months. A few more months and the 9750 Tour would have been released with so many more features that I "need". A released 5.0 OS, 3G, and a touchpad instead of the trackball...just to name a few.
So as it is with many different things, the more I work with something, the more I wonder about how to customize it and make it mine. Of course I have the usual gammit of apps I've downloaded and I've found a theme that I love. But that never stops the brain from saying, "Why doesn't this app exist, or why doesn't this app do this better?" So I have some ideas floating around, and I've wondered how hard it is to build those apps. A while ago I started looking into it just from an overview standpoint, and was unable to get it going. That being said, I never really got to the point of banging my head against the wall. I was able to glean that there were a number of IDE's to choose from, the simulatators available seemed pretty robust and full-featured, and the most important thing was that even simple applications have no visual development available. This is a pretty crazy thing to think about for me, I've always been a purely Visual programmer for the most part, if only there was such a thing as VB7 I'd be a happy camper. (Don't even comment about .NET being better...I don't have time right now to post that particular rant)
So after some very busy months in life and at work, I'm now back to a point where I have a pretty good idea that I wanted to present to some friends of mine. Whenever I present an idea, I always find it necessary to include screenshots because that always makes an idea seem more "real". So I loaded up the Blackberry JDE ready to start up a simple HelloWorld project, only to find that it didn't open for whatever reason. Alright, try opening this, open that, got the simulator fired up from the JDE...great sign! Only problem, I can find my app anywhere in the simulator. Hrmmmm, alright so I start googling around. Find a tutorial on how to get started, so I try that since it starts me out from scratch...end up getting to the exact same error! Argh. ok, so now it's time to start Googling the error, lots of people seem to have the same problem, but strangely no clear answer to how to fix it. It appears like it has something to do with either having a different JDK installed or changing the Windows Environment Variables. Suddenly I'm having a bad feeling about this whole experience. One of the posters said that using the Blackberry JDE was a mistake to begin with, when there is such a thing as Netbeans with the RIM plug-in. Sounds great, let's go!
Get Netbeans downloaded and when I go to install it says I don't have any JDK's installed. Hmmm, k, that might be why the Blackberry JDE didn't work. Found a JDK and installed it. Now Netbeans installs great, and while that was happening I fired up Blackberry JDE and the error was gone! Or at least so it seemed, now I have a new error....and it doesn't have an error number or anything other than "An Error Occurred". Oh great, this thing has descriptive errors that rival Siemens Step7...#$#%$!!! oh well, I'm installing Netbeans, remember? This will be great...
Once Netbeans finishes installing, I quickly install the RIM Plugin, which works like a charm. Alright, *claps hands* let's get to work. Jump back on Google where I saw about 6 different links for Blackberry development using Netbeans. The first tutorial I went to had a broken link. No big deal, there are others...I'll try one from the Netbeans documentation site....broken link again. A little frustrating but no biggie, things move around. Fast forward an hour and I still haven't found a good link to a working tutorial!!! So now I"m staring at a piece of software I have no idea how to use to develop for a platform I'm unfamiliar with in a language I haven't used since college. Fantastic.
Now, there is one last IDE option I was sort of avoiding because it's been labeled as buggy and finicky and considering my last two failures, I wasn't in any mood for buggy or finicky. That option is using the RIM plugin for Eclipse. The only reason why I'm considering it is because Eclipse is the IDE of choice for Android development which I will also be delving into for the same project. And remember, at this point I'm only hoping for some pretty screenshots...maybe it won't be too bad.
So my plan as of right now is to uninstall everything Java related on my computer and start again. Perhaps the next post will be a clear concise tutorial to get working on developing apps for the blackberry, but I have a funny feeling it will turn into a post blasting blackberry app development and saying that everybody and their brother should just switch to Android.
Check me out on Twitter over the next few days if you like to read swearing.
I started using a blackberry for the first time August of 2009 when I firmly requested I get to use one for work. I'm thankful that I joined the Blackberry community when I did, because I'm not sure how I would have liked the older berries. I currently run a Curve 8900, and even that I feel I should have held out just a few more months. A few more months and the 9750 Tour would have been released with so many more features that I "need". A released 5.0 OS, 3G, and a touchpad instead of the trackball...just to name a few.
So as it is with many different things, the more I work with something, the more I wonder about how to customize it and make it mine. Of course I have the usual gammit of apps I've downloaded and I've found a theme that I love. But that never stops the brain from saying, "Why doesn't this app exist, or why doesn't this app do this better?" So I have some ideas floating around, and I've wondered how hard it is to build those apps. A while ago I started looking into it just from an overview standpoint, and was unable to get it going. That being said, I never really got to the point of banging my head against the wall. I was able to glean that there were a number of IDE's to choose from, the simulatators available seemed pretty robust and full-featured, and the most important thing was that even simple applications have no visual development available. This is a pretty crazy thing to think about for me, I've always been a purely Visual programmer for the most part, if only there was such a thing as VB7 I'd be a happy camper. (Don't even comment about .NET being better...I don't have time right now to post that particular rant)
So after some very busy months in life and at work, I'm now back to a point where I have a pretty good idea that I wanted to present to some friends of mine. Whenever I present an idea, I always find it necessary to include screenshots because that always makes an idea seem more "real". So I loaded up the Blackberry JDE ready to start up a simple HelloWorld project, only to find that it didn't open for whatever reason. Alright, try opening this, open that, got the simulator fired up from the JDE...great sign! Only problem, I can find my app anywhere in the simulator. Hrmmmm, alright so I start googling around. Find a tutorial on how to get started, so I try that since it starts me out from scratch...end up getting to the exact same error! Argh. ok, so now it's time to start Googling the error, lots of people seem to have the same problem, but strangely no clear answer to how to fix it. It appears like it has something to do with either having a different JDK installed or changing the Windows Environment Variables. Suddenly I'm having a bad feeling about this whole experience. One of the posters said that using the Blackberry JDE was a mistake to begin with, when there is such a thing as Netbeans with the RIM plug-in. Sounds great, let's go!
Get Netbeans downloaded and when I go to install it says I don't have any JDK's installed. Hmmm, k, that might be why the Blackberry JDE didn't work. Found a JDK and installed it. Now Netbeans installs great, and while that was happening I fired up Blackberry JDE and the error was gone! Or at least so it seemed, now I have a new error....and it doesn't have an error number or anything other than "An Error Occurred". Oh great, this thing has descriptive errors that rival Siemens Step7...#$#%$!!! oh well, I'm installing Netbeans, remember? This will be great...
Once Netbeans finishes installing, I quickly install the RIM Plugin, which works like a charm. Alright, *claps hands* let's get to work. Jump back on Google where I saw about 6 different links for Blackberry development using Netbeans. The first tutorial I went to had a broken link. No big deal, there are others...I'll try one from the Netbeans documentation site....broken link again. A little frustrating but no biggie, things move around. Fast forward an hour and I still haven't found a good link to a working tutorial!!! So now I"m staring at a piece of software I have no idea how to use to develop for a platform I'm unfamiliar with in a language I haven't used since college. Fantastic.
Now, there is one last IDE option I was sort of avoiding because it's been labeled as buggy and finicky and considering my last two failures, I wasn't in any mood for buggy or finicky. That option is using the RIM plugin for Eclipse. The only reason why I'm considering it is because Eclipse is the IDE of choice for Android development which I will also be delving into for the same project. And remember, at this point I'm only hoping for some pretty screenshots...maybe it won't be too bad.
So my plan as of right now is to uninstall everything Java related on my computer and start again. Perhaps the next post will be a clear concise tutorial to get working on developing apps for the blackberry, but I have a funny feeling it will turn into a post blasting blackberry app development and saying that everybody and their brother should just switch to Android.
Check me out on Twitter over the next few days if you like to read swearing.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Review: Wild Tymes Sports Bar & Grill
Today we decided to take the family out to the MN Children's Museum in downtown St. Paul. The kids had been seeing the advertisements for their new "Dinosaurs: Land of Fire and Ice" exhibit and my wife was right on the ball when she realized that today was the 3rd Sunday of the Month. For those that aren't aware, the 3rd Sunday the museum is open free of charge thanks to Target . Of course the downside is that it's extremely busy, but hey free is free. So in our classic fashion we got in the car at almost exactly lunchtime. So by the time we finish with a few errands on the way, we realized we were going to need lunch. We hardly ever take ourselves out to eat, so we figured today might be a good day to check something out in Downtown St. Paul. Once we found our usual parking spot in the Macy's parking garage (also free every Sunday, no purchase necessary) we set about finding someplace to eat. I pull out the blackberry and fire up "Poynt" so that it could "Poynt" me in the right direction. After skipping through the usual list of McDonalds and anything with the word "Deli" in it (since they usually have nothing for the wife to eat) I came across two potentials. Mickey's and Wild Tymes. Both have pretty good reviews, so I called up Wild Tymes as they are a sports bar and I wasn't sure they'd be open for a Sunday Lunch. Sure enough they were, and we were off.
At first we didn't realize we had made it there, the place itself was a little unassuming and not well marked. When we walked in we were immediately greeted and seated in a booth. Immediately upon seating us, the waitress noticed that my middle child Alex had his Chuck Taylor shoes on, and quickly commented. I mean, here is the gaggle of people (5 total) and she actually notices the shoes. The little shy boy now has a friend.
Once seated, we start figuring out what we're all going to have. Of course Zora puts up a stink about wanting to sit in a booster chair, so we get another one for Alex. Shortly into the decision making process he apparently was reaching for Matt at the end of the table and toppled end over end out the side of the booth. He wasn't harmed and it was totally his fault (nothing a little motherly love couldn't fix) but almost immediately his buddy the waitress heard what happened and produced a cookie. This was promptly shared with the other two, and now she has 2 punches in the plus column with the little guy.
While reading the reviews on the Blackberry, I read that the portion sizes tended to be quite large, so I suggested we just get a plate of fries and a plate of chips and salsa (conveniently the two least expensive things on the menu..I'm not cheap, I swear!! ) and see where that took us. When the waitress came over to take our drink order, Zora decided she was going to be cute and order a "Diet Coke" which of course makes just about anybody take a step back when a 4yr old orders a diet, but she is her mother's daughter after all. We ordered our appetizers and awaited our meal.
When the fries came out, they were heaping so high on the plate my wife actually exclaims, "Holy crap that's a lotta fries!!" to which I smile inwardly and thank the reviewer who took the time to give me that little tip. Needless to say, I have now entered that tip in to the Foursquare database as well, so if you happen to Foursquare and check-in to Wild Tymes you should be aware of the portions.
Throughout our meal our waitress was in constant contact with us, and it was clear to us that she genuinely cared about our well-being while in her care (or at least she was really good about faking it. :) ) Overall, our dining experience while there with a family of 5 people was fantastic, and much of the success was thanks to our server. So thanks Joline for a wonderful lunch!! The only gripe I would have of the place was that the menu stated they had Coke products, she offered us Sprite by name, but as we were leaving my wife did notice that they actually served Pepsi products. She thought her pop tasted a little off but wrote it off..so I would suggest they fix their menu or at least make sure people are aware. I know I prefer the Coke persuasion much more than Pepsi, but that may be yet another post.
At first we didn't realize we had made it there, the place itself was a little unassuming and not well marked. When we walked in we were immediately greeted and seated in a booth. Immediately upon seating us, the waitress noticed that my middle child Alex had his Chuck Taylor shoes on, and quickly commented. I mean, here is the gaggle of people (5 total) and she actually notices the shoes. The little shy boy now has a friend.
Once seated, we start figuring out what we're all going to have. Of course Zora puts up a stink about wanting to sit in a booster chair, so we get another one for Alex. Shortly into the decision making process he apparently was reaching for Matt at the end of the table and toppled end over end out the side of the booth. He wasn't harmed and it was totally his fault (nothing a little motherly love couldn't fix) but almost immediately his buddy the waitress heard what happened and produced a cookie. This was promptly shared with the other two, and now she has 2 punches in the plus column with the little guy.
While reading the reviews on the Blackberry, I read that the portion sizes tended to be quite large, so I suggested we just get a plate of fries and a plate of chips and salsa (conveniently the two least expensive things on the menu..I'm not cheap, I swear!! ) and see where that took us. When the waitress came over to take our drink order, Zora decided she was going to be cute and order a "Diet Coke" which of course makes just about anybody take a step back when a 4yr old orders a diet, but she is her mother's daughter after all. We ordered our appetizers and awaited our meal.
When the fries came out, they were heaping so high on the plate my wife actually exclaims, "Holy crap that's a lotta fries!!" to which I smile inwardly and thank the reviewer who took the time to give me that little tip. Needless to say, I have now entered that tip in to the Foursquare database as well, so if you happen to Foursquare and check-in to Wild Tymes you should be aware of the portions.
Throughout our meal our waitress was in constant contact with us, and it was clear to us that she genuinely cared about our well-being while in her care (or at least she was really good about faking it. :) ) Overall, our dining experience while there with a family of 5 people was fantastic, and much of the success was thanks to our server. So thanks Joline for a wonderful lunch!! The only gripe I would have of the place was that the menu stated they had Coke products, she offered us Sprite by name, but as we were leaving my wife did notice that they actually served Pepsi products. She thought her pop tasted a little off but wrote it off..so I would suggest they fix their menu or at least make sure people are aware. I know I prefer the Coke persuasion much more than Pepsi, but that may be yet another post.
GPS Navigation for Blackberry Follow Up
Some of you may have read my initial post on Navigation options on the Blackberry after Amaze decided to start charging for their navigation service. I listed several possible options that were revealed after searching. I think I've given each one a good run, and to save you the reading...nothing good.
Nav4All - Recently announced thatTeleNav NavTeq (Editted per Ralf's comment) did not renew their subscription to provide Nav4All their data. So instantly 24 million users had the doors shut on them...and surprise surprise Telenav also announced that they have a navigation app and would gladly accept $10 / month to use the service.
Life in Pocket - Definately works to give Turn by Turn navigation, however there's a catch...no map! It shows a nice picture of a the intended turn...terrific.
Poynt + Google Maps - Isn't navigation at all, Poynt is just a search engine that acts like a wrapper to Google Maps. That's good, because everybody knows that Google really wasn't made for searches...:-P
Google Navigation - Still the true winner, and I've never even seen it in action aside from videos. The wife will be getting her Android next week, a Samsung Moment. Needless to say, this geek is excited considering she was initally leaning towards a Palm Pixie. (However, while researching things for this blog post I found out the Moment is still shipping with Android 1.5, so no Google Navigation out of the box, but it appears they will be updating to 1.6 or 2.0 soon....hrmmm) As far as Blackberry receiving Google Navigation there has not been any official news but the reality is it will happen like everything else...about 6 months behind the iPhone. And the iPhone is rumored to receive it "as soon as Apple gives the go ahead" according to a Google Spokeperson. Can't we all just get along?!
So there we have it, no good options but to work with except the current Google Maps interface with no turn by turn. But as I'm attempting to feign a sense of objectivity...here's a few options that aren't free:
Amaze - While I can't fault a company for wanting to make a buck, this one in my opinion was not worth almost $3 / month service fee.
Telenav - The convenient newcomer to the scene once Nav4All shut it's doors unexpectedly is $10 / month.
Garmin - This is a one time fee of $100..not exactly chump change, but at least you don't have to pay for it monthly. There is a 7 day free trial, so I guess if I cared more I'd give it a shot.
I'm sure there are more, but I only care about paid apps so much, after all I have a pretty well functioning blackberry without paying a dime for any pay apps. Of course..there are apps I wish existed or worked better, but that's a whole different post.
Nav4All - Recently announced that
Life in Pocket - Definately works to give Turn by Turn navigation, however there's a catch...no map! It shows a nice picture of a the intended turn...terrific.
Poynt + Google Maps - Isn't navigation at all, Poynt is just a search engine that acts like a wrapper to Google Maps. That's good, because everybody knows that Google really wasn't made for searches...:-P
Google Navigation - Still the true winner, and I've never even seen it in action aside from videos. The wife will be getting her Android next week, a Samsung Moment. Needless to say, this geek is excited considering she was initally leaning towards a Palm Pixie. (However, while researching things for this blog post I found out the Moment is still shipping with Android 1.5, so no Google Navigation out of the box, but it appears they will be updating to 1.6 or 2.0 soon....hrmmm) As far as Blackberry receiving Google Navigation there has not been any official news but the reality is it will happen like everything else...about 6 months behind the iPhone. And the iPhone is rumored to receive it "as soon as Apple gives the go ahead" according to a Google Spokeperson. Can't we all just get along?!
So there we have it, no good options but to work with except the current Google Maps interface with no turn by turn. But as I'm attempting to feign a sense of objectivity...here's a few options that aren't free:
Amaze - While I can't fault a company for wanting to make a buck, this one in my opinion was not worth almost $3 / month service fee.
Telenav - The convenient newcomer to the scene once Nav4All shut it's doors unexpectedly is $10 / month.
Garmin - This is a one time fee of $100..not exactly chump change, but at least you don't have to pay for it monthly. There is a 7 day free trial, so I guess if I cared more I'd give it a shot.
I'm sure there are more, but I only care about paid apps so much, after all I have a pretty well functioning blackberry without paying a dime for any pay apps. Of course..there are apps I wish existed or worked better, but that's a whole different post.
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