Sections: Uncategorized Aug 28th, 2003 2 Comments From CNN.com:
MOUNT WASHINGTON, New Hampshire (AP) — It took six sets of batteries and three drivers, but a Segway scooter made it to the top of New England's tallest peak.
The scooter climbed Mount Washington's auto road in about two and a half hours Wednesday. “
Thanks Steve for the link
Sections: Uncategorized Aug 21st, 2003 58 Comments 
Okay so I probably didn’t need the SonyEricsson T616. I could have probably made my 14 month old T68i last a bit longer and waited until next year. But due to my T68i having such poor signal performance (I swear it was actually getting worse) and the sheer brilliance of the T616 I couldn’t wait any longer.
My T68i simply put was unusable to me for much of the day. Of course it didn’t help that my coworker was easily able to make and receive calls with his Nokia 6200. Who cares if the T68i had superior features if I couldn’t use the phone. It was definitely time for a change.
But I didn’t want to leave the SonyEricsson family due to the fantastic features and great interface of the phones. As someone who used nothing but Nokias prior to my T68i the SonyEricsson interface and integration of Bluetooth was a revelation to me. So while the T68i may have had poor reception it’s features were in another class compared to 95% of what was out there.
So the day I found out that AT&T had the new SonyEricsson T616 (US version of the T610) available for order I jumped at the chance to replace old and untrusty T68i
The first thing that I noticed about the phone as I was unpacking it from the box was how solid it felt. Here was this little gadget that was not only made partially out of aluminum but was as well built as an iPod. This all serves to give you the impression of an extremely well built and solid device. It’s almost like holding a solid chunk of metal in your hand. It’s actually similar to the feeling you get when you pick up a 12″ Apple Powerbook (also made of aluminum ).
The attention to design detail is really amazing. Not only is the side curved inward to give your fingers more grip but it also enhances the rigidity of the phone while working very well with the overall design language. Simply put this is the best overall hardware design I’ve ever seen on a phone. The feeling of cool metal on your fingertips is one of those little tactile attributes that makes you want to pick it up all the time. Designer Erik Ahlgren deserves a good deal of praise for this phone. The design has a certain amount of tension to it yet looks very clean and unadorned. Where the T68i looked stylish in a turn of the century sort of way the T616 appears to almost have a timeless quality to it.
Of course I was also very interested in how the phone would actually work. Would this be another great hardware design let down by poor signal performance? The short answer is no. After having the phone for over a week I can safely say that the T616 is a revelation compared with the T68i. The simple fact that I have yet to drop a call should speak volumes as that was a daily occurrence with my T68i. It’s very comparable to the Nokia 6200 or 3650 in signal performance.
The other major improvement is voice quality. Both coming from the phone and listening over it. The sound quality is just short of a standard landline phone - not something at all that I expected.
In fact the only fault I could find with the phone is a display that’s difficult to read outdoors in direct sunlight. While the 65,000 color screen is a huge improvement over 256 color screen of the T68i’s it isn’t a reflective type like the T68i screen. What that means is it will wash out in bright direct sunlight. This isn’t a major concern since I don’t spend much time outside during the middle of the day but if you do it might be something to note. Otherwise in moderate sunlight or indoor conditions the screen is absolutely amazing.
Of course another selling point to the phone is the discreet built in camera. It’s worth mentioning that while it’s very nice to have camera to capture life’s fleeting moments — those moments will not be captured as effectivly as with a traditional digital camera. In fact the T616’s camera is not quite up to par with even Nokia 3650 or the previous Commicam available on the SE 300 series or the T68i. Personally this doesn’t really matter much to me as I already have digital camera for taking higher quality shots and I expect most people won’t be shooting weddings with a camera-phone anyway.
In all the T616 has been one revelation after another. I can’t believe I even questioned getting this phone as a replacement for my T68i. It not only excels in things a phone should (voice quality and signal performance) but is designed and built incredibly well. I can’t recommend T616 enough.
Sections: Uncategorized Aug 15th, 2003 No Comments From CNN.com
Without power, commuter trains and airports were shut down. Stranded workers outside Penn Station in New York found themselves fighting over pay phones, as overloaded telephone networks rendered some wireless phones temporarily useless.
Others walked into dark buildings near Grand Central, blindly, looking for pay phones rather than stand in lines out on the street. People stumbled through darkened hallways using the screens of their iPod digital music players and Treo computer phones as flashlights.
Sections: Uncategorized Aug 10th, 2003 No Comments From CNN.com
The temperature exceeded the previous high of 37.1C (98.8F), set in Cheltenham, central England, in August 1990.
Britain has recorded weather statistics since the mid-1870s — longer than anywhere else in the world.
Millions of Britons have been flocking to beaches, lakes and parks in recent days as the country has been blanketed under the heat wave currently affecting much of Europe.
This is abolsutely bizarre considering this has been one of the mildest summers I can remember in Chicago. it's only been above the 90 degree mark 5-6 days so far. Is this actual evidence of global warming or just a normal temperature extreme?
Gabriel Bridger is an associate creative director, and part-time blogger living in Chicago. Bridger.us is a rambling collection of thoughts, comments, and various media in no particular order and, at times, of no particular merit.
