AntoineRJWright.com

Lord, thanks for this day. I did better than yesterday with staying focused at work. But, I really want to do even better still. I fell like I am getting a bit full of myself, as I haven't done anything and yet there had been some accolades. Lord, I wanted to be better disciplined in mind and heart today when it came to ****** and it seems that I've done better. THanks for the encouragement of yesteday's conversations, and the realization of today's time to just sit pack, and think. Ah, the new place. I still am quite amazed at this place Dad. HOw you made it come along,, and just how you've been very gracious in opening so many doors. You've let me sit on the sidelines towards those things I've wanted, but those things I've needed you've led me quickly to them. I don't really know how elseto respond except to say thank you. I hoope that they will enjoy whatever I will be able to serve at the housewarming. And I wish for this place too to be a place of rest. I look forward to learnin
g you, learning me, and growing more. AndI hope that the walls can stand when my patience isn't as long as yours. I'm pretty sure that they have read enough, so I will continue this in private. But I thank you for opening me just a bit, so that friends and acquaintences will know that I really don't have much to offer except an open heart to whatever plans you have. Thanks for being my all in all of this; I see your hand as it has worked in my past. I will learn in future dealings not to question your moves again...

For instance: Using the web as a natural part of one's life is only something that is a recent phenomena in the world, and yet there are already generations of people who know nothign but how to use the web as a means to find this/that, communicate, dialogue, and connect. Do the people who refuse to do so fall behind, or is this just one of those evolutions of tech and life where an added layer of how we live is something that one person does, and another doesn't?

Going mobile is a different beast entirely. Seeing now that I am in Charlotte and have slowed down consderably, I can see why so many in the US are not as mobile-centric with tech, and at the same time why that can be a liability in some social circles. For example here: being single and in a new town, it doesn't help to not use your mobile device to get around, make appointments, and gather new contacts. To do such a thing by a landline or just people networks is an exercise in and old style of communication that mostly not be successful. Personally, I want to see everyone use a service like jaiku, and then use the online action of social groups and mobile devices to make these connections. But alas, most I know are not that forward towards wanting to engage in folks. Ah well.

Socal networks are another issue. This is something that everyone at some point is doing online, and at the same time they can be very underutilized. Just gathering contacts in LinkedIn might be great. But how about using those contacts to make connections to employers, friends, community groups in various areas. Expanding services like eBay and Craigslist to contact opportunities that lend to making lasting and building connections.

You see, I am not against NOT using these technologies. I just think that they can be done a whole lot better if we just simply stop thinking about the tech as a layer that is complicated, but rather one that is just icing on a cake of human-connections.

Of course, I could help all of this along in my own social circles by giving them all Nokia phones on Cingy with Jaiku and then just push that usage button -- hey, it happened with the Treo ;)

Labels: commentary, mobile

So, uh, new news? Well, I move into my place on Wednesday. That will be a blessing to get in there and not be so far away from work that I would be considered a commuter. I will most definitely like that change of pace.

Church si going well. I am connecting with a good number of folks there. The peeps that I ate with today seem like a really cool group too, so I am looking forward to that part of getting involved to.

Just finished packing up my things and will be just using the Treo for the forseeable amount of time. I think that I might invest in a newer, bigger battery just because I don't want to get into setting my computer up for a while. Though, what I could really use is that Foleo, so that I would have almost no reason at all to set one up.

Ah, the search for furinature. This should be fun. I hope to get some asthetic folks down here to help me make sure that I am putting together a hospitable place, not just a "me" pad.

That is really about all. Like my mom says, this site does come off on being a journal from time to time. Well, if I end up with a US-spec Nokia E90, or some other device that is as capable -- but not as big, then I might considerr writing a bit more of those things not just of a journal. But until then and those ideas come, this is what I have and am.

Blessings to all, Philly, Lanc/Ville, DC/Baltimore/Annapolis, and all those places in between that I've been, you've helped me get to this point; and I too wonder what God will be doing next.

Labels: commentary

The afternoon was shaping up to be quiet and just me. I had went to the store to get a few things and ended up walking to the magazine section (as I sometimes do when I am aimless in a grocery store). As I looked at the covers, I was one part bored at the marketing, and another part just looking for "something." I saw it at the bottom right corner, the latest issues of Bicycling maazine. They always have some good in there so I grabbed that and then settled into purchasing it to read.

I sat outside just letting the early evening air run over me while I read. Then, it happened around page 23 right after or during the reading of that editorial. I had to go bike. I didn't want to sit still, I didn't want to call people, or even touch a phone. I wanted to bike.

So I threw on some shorts and grabbed the N95 (to play with the GPS if the thought came) and went to the bike.

The first mile went by so fast. I rode without hands for most of it. It was just me and some wind. Not too many cars, not too much of anything really. I just rode.

I took some time to play in the dirt on a construction site and then proceeded down a road that I've driven, but never rode. It was flat, therre was no wind, and it was just me and freedom. There was no worrying about mobile this or that, woman here or there, or anything. It was just me and the scenery.

I turned down this street right before crossing the highway and found a community planted in the middle of nowhere. Here, in a place where theree was almost nothing, was a community no different from one you would find in Littlestown or Landsdowne, PA. I liked the houses and resturants and made a mental note to visit again, and just kept on riding. There was freedom in that.

I turned up the street and there was a hill that I didn't want, but took it easily. I stopped at CVS to liquid up, and then continued. Flat and my thoughts. There was nothing else to it. I had gotten up from that maazine to enjoy the moment.

It was one of those days where you just had to be there. Had to be in that place where you just moved, and from there enjoyed life all around you. That's something that I am learning about this area too. There is room to just be awestruck by God, and from therer ride with Him. I got a chance this Sunday and will take that opportunity again soon. Because even then I will just say it's just one of those days to go out and enjoy Him.

Labels: biking, commentary

This was posted at the Loopt Blog.

I was reading that Sprint is now going to be making available Loopt on its mobiles. This is something that I saw demoed at CES this year and I really like it.

Of course, seeing this program reminds me that I had an invite to come to Cali for a visit. I wonder if that offer still stands.

Labels: community, mobile

I Am Free of a Contract
Essentially, what I pay is what I pay. There are no hidden device fees or other service fees that I have with my account. I don't have to worry about rebate offers not coming thru, or even having a phone that I don't like for any amount of time because I am locked in.

Freedom to Choose Whatever Phone that Works
Sure, I do this already because I review phones. But the fact is that for my day to day life, I can basically go with a number of phones and just swap out the SIM card whenever I want to use another that better fits my moods. This also extends into me being able to purchase much better phones from overseas and for the most part have them working here.

I Pay for What I Use
You see, with some plans, you have to pay for features that you don't need and for some duration of your contract you have to keep those. In my case, if I don't need it, I won't pay for it. Granted, my bill is higher than most because I need the most allowable use possible, but its a choice, not a contractual requirement.

Having said all of that. I am looking at getting another phone. I was going to go thru Cingy...er AT&T and do it because I know that I would get a heck of a good deal due to loyality savings and what have you. But I don't think so at this point. Because I am in such a good spot with them, I think that my next device will be something along the lines of a device that isn't in the US, and offers the kind of usability and functionality that makes it a plesant day-to-day phone, as well as one that is sharp when going out. If you will, as functional as my Treo and stylish as my N95.

And for use like that, who needs a contract to tell them how to get mobile.

Labels: commentary, mobile

While it is that I really like aspects of the Foleo, in terms of something short and light to carry, this seems something that would work really well for me and others who need simple computing.

My cousin is sitting here marveling at the Treo and keyboard that I have out. I sometimes don't get how others don't see what I see with mobile tech. And while even some of the techies around me understand it, seeing something in action is totally different.

I remembered this because it was brought to my attention recently that I have a few rude tendencies with my mobile. Gratned, I can look back and attest to that being that fact, so there are no excuses there. What I do wonder is where and what happened in me that this preference was set?

As I continue with getting settled in with things in NC, I am having to battle the older notions by which I did computing and life in general. Here things are slower, and so the need to be connected as often is lessened. This flies in teh face of my responsibilities online, but it becomes another one of those adjustments. Interpersonal and extrapersonal interactions are of the type that I remember at Millersville, lots of face and little by way of transparency. And yet the overall mode of things is friendly. I prefered to be here over Ohio and other places, and yet the preference is filled with its own kibbles and bits.

I wonder where the next place will be that I get to sit and learn. I really wonder that, as everyplace has seemingly been less and less learning of the "new things to know" type and more like "new things to apply in new and stressed ways" type. I wonder if by all that I have done already that I have literally tapped out my well of innovation and thinking, and if I have basically settled into an early boredom of thinking...

Nah, there is something bound to spark. But like everyplace that I have moved to, its been genre changing. Tha much I know I should expect here. Because of all things that are in my life, learning new things and being challenged is my preference.

To that end I am angling for something better. Not necessarly the Foleo either, but something that better leverages the need for me to have the bigger screen and keyboard, but without the software overheadd of most tablet and notebook computers. Gratned, after that point my needs are fairly simple (solid web browser, documents suite, and email), but like the Foleo, I don't want for the laptop-like device to be the center. I am totally content with the smartphone being the center of my computing, and from there I just work as needed.

Ironically enough, I think that despitet my assumptions that the Foleo would work for me, I believe that its probably too far out and ahead of what most people would want, despite their needs.

Hence I am considering selling my desktop once I get another (large) SD card to put pictures and other items on that are not on my 8GB card now. I don't need it other than developing sites and testing, and that is something that could be done from a thin client much easier than the hassle of setting this up.

It all makes me a bit miffed too that I missed the Foleo demonstration in DC last week. If I had read the email -- doh -- then I would have at least known about it and got some hands on time with it to see how much it realy does meet my need.

For all of the banking and real estate instututions down here, I wonder how many of them are using hardware and software that woudl be better served by a simplified solution. Not necessarly a smartphone and Foleo (though in some cases yes), but things like MOOFing (www.moof.mobi) and telecommuting; I wonder if the paradigm that we have gotten into with computing has just too many layers, and therefore makes us less productive and more stressed than we need to be.

I am pretty sure that given the right time, knowledge, and space that computing can be done right on several accounts, I just wonder if people are ready for that, or are just so set in the way things are done that change has to happen in niche patches until Apple (ok, the great marketing engine that Apple and others take advantage of) says that things can now change.