I Heart My Centro

Back in the day (mid/late 90s for me) I used to pride myself on being an "early adopter" -- one of those people who prided themselves in having the latest hi-tech gadget. (And I'd also like to remind you that I'm not a guy!) and when it comes to the web, we're always looking at the next wave of technologies.
But I admit I was a little slow getting in on the smartphone revolution as I didn't really see a need in spending $8,000 a month on modem speed that was equivalent to a gerbil running in a wheel.
Flash forward the the 'oughts. Mobile internet of course has greatly improved, and if you don't text, you might as well be using stone tablets and chisel. Still, I was married to my Palm Pilot (I've been using once since Christmas 1997!), and was one of those rare people who mostly used her phone for talking to people.
But with a 5-year-old daughter, my purse was becoming so overloaded with half-filled bags of Ritz Peanut Butter crackers and tiny rubber Polly Pocket clothes, there wasn't much room in there for my wallet and gadgets. It was time to consolidate.
I started looking at the Treo -- after all, it was Palm, so I was used to the interface and I could easily transfer all my data. But the square device is weird to me (as it is with some of the Blackberries and other smartphones); it's like talking into a piece of toast.
And then last year, of course, came the iPhone. Holy crap! This thing did everything! And none of this postage-stamp sized window stuff for web access! So I thought maybe I'd save up for one of those.
Then I started thinking about what I really do the most with my mobile devices. I mostly needed a good calendar and organizer, and an intuitive interface. The iPhone is about as intuitive as you can get, but I really didn't need iTunes and all the other stuff.
And I started thinking more about my 10+ years of data I had on my Palm Pilot, and lo and behold, Centro came out and with my carrier too! The device is skinner and more phone-like. The internet access isn't stellar, but maybe that way I won't get hooked on it as much. And my calendar, dating back to December 1997, is preserved.
So far I'm pretty happy with it. I'll keep you posted.

Tis The Season for more Email Scams

Last week I posted about the Nigerian Scam sequel. Then I get an email from a friend of mine about the Do Not Call list for cell phones. In this one email tells you that 12 days from today (or some other ominous deadline), all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sales calls, and you will be charged for them, yada, yada, yada, so you need to call the special number or all heck will break loose. This is more or less a hoax that seems to pop up every year around the beginning and middle of the year. First of all, the number that is listed is the same Do Not Call list for yor regular landline; secondly and thirdly, automated dialers are standard in the industry, so most telemarketers are barred from calling consumers on their cell phones without their consent, and besides, the federal government does not maintain a national cell phone registry. For more info, http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2005/04/dnc.shtm or of course, snopes.com.

Another scam I was reminded about over the weekend -- the "Please Help the Sick Kid". In this one, the email discusses the plight of some poor sick little boy or girl who has some rare form of cancer. The stated girl is often "Jessica Mydek". If you forward this email, 3 cents will be donated by the American Cancer Society and other corporate entities toward research. It makes you feel really good for doing something good for someone, and it's relatively easy. Unfortunately, this one is a hoax, too, and again, all you've really done is annoyed your friends. See http://www.cancer.org/docroot/med/content/med_6_1_chain_e-mail.asp, and again, snopes for more info.