Quick review: Oblivion for the 360, hands down this is the most amazing RPG out there today. ***** -joe

Posting pictures from Alltel

Ok, so publishing from Flickr is not working well. Probably Alltel's fault, they keep doing wacky attachments to the photos...

Cheapa$$ Games Quick Review

You can find these games at http://www.cheapass.com

Ratings are 1 to 5 stars.

You already have the money, dice, paper, etc, why buy it again?

Ben Hurtz ***
Not a bad game, the pacing is good and it is fun to throw stuff at the other chariots as they go by.  We have played this one a few times and so far it gets a thumbs up.

Parts Unknown **
So-so.  We didn't like the pacing on this one, lots of strategy but takes too long to get to your turn.

Unexploded Cow ****
Loads of fun, this is our current favorite.  Well paced and keeps play moving.

Lord of the Fries ****
I like this game, there is something to be said for shouting "Bird, bird, cow, pie!!!"

Give Me The Brain ****
Another fun Zombie themed game that moves at a good pace and is lots of fun.

The Perfect Palm

\\Begin RANT\\
My version of the perfect Palm was already out there... almost!  I have been through several handhelds in my days:

*Various RadioShack Handheld Computers

*HP200lx - A great little machine that was built like a tank. Loads and loads of DOS programs available.

*Handspring Visor Platinum - My first Palm, It is still working today.  I loved the Springboard concept.  Nice Datebk as well.

*Palm 505 - Not bad but not enough memory, I used this while I had other various Palms.

*Zodiac 2 - This was *almost* a perfect Palm:
The Good:
128 megs / graphics accellerator / great launcher / great built-in apps / two sd card slots / vibrate / analog stick / fantastic screen / felt very good in the hand (the absolute best ebook reader with its shoulder buttons) / BlueTooth
The Bad:
The HotSync Connector was horrible! / some digitizer problems / no built-in WiFi/battery was so-so

*Zire 72 - Very good, only downside was low memory and no built-in WiFi

*Palm TX - Mixed bag, it does lot very well but it can be frustrating at times.  A mic would have been nice...

On question; Why did they ever change from the HotSync connector that the Zire 72 uses???  It always worked!  No little pins to break, etc.  Standard USB cable, imagine that!

Other Apps I think they should include in ROM:
 CardExport II
 Datebk 6
 RescoExplorer
 TCPMP
 Some sort of MP3 Alarm clock!

I really wish Tapwave had stuck around for one more Zodiac release...

\\End RANT\\  :)

Mira Marie

Mira Marie
Originally uploaded by Ebonair.

Ok, thanks Alltel for putting a nice pic in front of the pic that I took. Anyway, here is the pic almost direct from my cel phone...

Mira Marie

Mira Marie
Originally uploaded by Ebonair.

I visited with Mira today, cute as a button!

Coming soon... Reviews of cheapass games. You own the dice, timers, pawns, etc. Starting with Unexploded Cow and Parts Unknown.

Back

Back

I made it home safe and sound! 7 day cruise was very relaxing. Now back to the real world...

PDA Nirvana?

I was not to sure about the switch at first but now... I LOVE THE TX! It
is the closest PDA so far, to handheld perfection. It does have a few
flaws but it does so many things right. First the flaws:

1) Lack of a microphone
2) Some memory issues (fixable with third party software)
3) Lack of a Removable Battery

And two minor irritations, I like the old HotSync connector on the Zire 72
better and Graffiti seems a little slugish at times.

What does it do right?
WiFi&Bluetooth, 128mb, big screen, almost all apps work well. Loads of
little "PalmZen" usability features.

Having WiFi always available is now something I will not be able to go
without...

-joe-

Life and what not

Life and what not

Ok, so I haven't exactly been on top of posting. :) Life is getting in the way. I upgraded (after much effort) to a Palm TX. So this will be my first post with it. The database comparasion might wait until I do a quick post on my experiences with the switch.

Sick

Sick

Sickness is making the rounds at my house so I haven't been up to posting. I am still working on a post comparing a few of the Palm databases available, look for it next week.

Palm Games

Palm Games

Commercial Games
Edge - Very good RPG
CasinoStud - Good time waster.
Triv - Fun
Legacy - Fun RPG
Snails - Fun. One of these days, I'll try the multi-player.
WordPop! - Great Fun
Insanaquarium - Fun
Warfare Inc. - Best Palm RTS
Word Challenge - Great Fun, good value.
PopCap Games Pack 1 - Great Fun
- Bejeweled
- Mummy Maze
- Alchemy
- Seven Seas
- Atomica
Fish Tycoon - Great Fun
Village Sim - Great Fun
Super Miners - Great Fun, another to try multi-player on.
Medieval Heroes II - Fun
Arvale: Journey of Illusion - OK, gets repetitive.
Scrabble - Great Fun
Firestorm - Good Gameboy emulator, very poor support.
Jack or 100 Ways to Barbeque - Good game, would be better with a joystick.

Freeware Games
W.W.Y.T. - Awesome game! :) Guess who wrote it...
LifeCtr - Ditto. MtG life counter
SameGame - Fun
SolPoker - Fun
Prison - Fun
CliFrotz - Fun. Zork returns!
SpaceTrader - Fun
Hearts - Fun
Yahdice - Great Fun
Little John P - Good Gameboy emulator

Palm Software

Palm Software

I think I'll break up the software part into 4 sections, freeware apps, freeware games, commercial games and commercial apps. Those with an asterisk are the ones I can't live without.

Commercial Apps<\B>
Documents To Go Premium - Excellent Office app! Does a good job of the basics while on the road.
QuickOffice 7.5 - I used this for a while until I got the Zodiac. It is a fine alternate Office app.
iSilo - A very good offline HTML reader.
HanDbase 3 - A good database with Desktop component.
* SplashID - I use this every day. It works perfectly for keeping track of my plethora of passwords.
* eReader Pro - I absolutely love being able to carry several books with me all the time.
* HandZipper - Easy to use archive utility. I keep my entire library of books in a Zip file on sd.
* BackupMan - Inexpensive and indispensible.
* Snappermail Enterprise - Tried other email apps but this one is the best.
SmartList 3 - A good database program.
* VFSFTP - Well done and easy to use file transfer.
* ZLauncher - This lets me have all of my apps available in the smallish 32 megs. Also has a decent file manager.
TomeRaider 3 - A good reference file reader. Currently I have the IMDB and few others. If I ever get a 2gb card, I will try out the WikiPedia.
pedit Pro - An excellent text editor, somewhat overloaded with features.
* Datebook 5 - The best enhancement to the built-in datebook. I use it to share calendars with my wifes Palm.
Novii Animator - Good little drawing/animation app.
Novii Remote - Gotta love being able to use the Palm as a remote control.
Printboy Premium - Allows simple printing.
Quizzler 4.01 - Somewhat replaced by the freeware QuizWiz
* Pocket Tunes Deluxe 3 - Bookmarking and OGG playback make it great for Audiobooks.
Mapopolis Navigator & Maps - Great navigation sofware.
Pathaway 4 - Good at tracks for biking but difficult to get maps cheaply.
Leonard Maltin Movie Guide - Good movie database.
TealPaint6.30 - Solid paint program.
* TealScript 3.50 - Indispensable
SplashPhoto - Photo viewer.
Score Wizard - Nice way to keep score without paper.
Mobile-TS - Remote Desktop, tough to use on the small screen.
MobileDB - Got this free database which works well.
Card Export II - Use my Palm as a flash drive? YeeHaw!
HotPaw Basic - Should have been built-in.
TraxItAll - Track just about anything.
BackupBuddyVFS 3 - Not bad but Backupman beat it out.
HanDbase Reporter - Don't really use this much.
PDA Cookbook - I sacrificed this one due to space concerns. It is a very powerful recipe book.
ShadowPlan - Next version should have support for notes. Very good outliner/todo replacement.
mmPlayer - Good video player but now replaced with TCPMP
pTools - Loads and load of tools that I just didn't use.
HiLauncher - Pretty good popup launcher.
* ClipPro - Easy to use and so very useful! Gives you multiple large clipboards to work with.

Freeware Apps
FileZ - Great File Manager
TCPMP CORE - Great Video Player
HandyShopper - My grocery store companion.
HappyDays - Keeps me up on everyones birthdays. I use the note field in Contacts.
Keyring - Good free app but now using SplashID for the Desktop companion.
Converter - Very handy to convert lots of measurement formats.
QuizWiz - Replace the kids flash cards.
Icon Manager - Great for getting just the icons I want into Datebk.
SplashBlog - Easy to post my crude Palm pics.
u*blog - Used to write this post.
DB - A decent free database.
TikTok - Several stopwatches.
BigClock - Alarm clock
* TimeCopy 1.4 - Sync Time with PC, I have used this on all of my Palms.

Next up will be Palm games.

Palm Hardware

Palm Hardware

Let's start with my Palm Hardware:

Handhelds
Handspring Visor Platinum - Very nice Palm, I just outgrew it. Very reliable, it still works.
Palm m505 - Not bad, my sister uses this one now. Once I got the Zod though, I couldn't go back.
Tapwave Zodiac 2 - I loved and hated it. So many nice features, just not very reliable and it had too many quirks. Excellent for gaming!
Zire 72 - So far, so good. I like this little powerhouse. The only wishes would be for more memory and a larger screen.

Accessories
Motorola v710 CelPhone - I use this to connect to the Internet or work via BlueTooth. It works fairly well but is somewhat slow. I never could get the SMS program to work with this phone.

Belkin GPS - One of my favorite BlueTooth gadgets. I use this all the time with Mapopolis and PathAway. It is tiny and sits nicely on the dashboard.

Zoom Modem - Occasionally I will use this to connect to the Internet while traveling. Connecting to RoadRunner with it is faster than using the Motorola.

Belkin BlueTooth Access Point - I use this all the time at home. It is much faster than using dial-up. Range is fair and reliability is excellent.

Universal Wireless Keyboard - I don't use this as much as I thought I would even though it works well. I also have an old StowAway that would connect directly to a Handspring Visor which was more comfortable for typing. One of the major problems with the keyboard with the Palm is that most applications are not designed for keyboard input. You usually need to get out the stylus for certain operations.

Boxwave VersaCharger - Can't seem to get this to kick off a full charge cycle yet, it will only trickle charge.

Boxwave Battery Adapter for miniSync - This is very cool, it lets me charge anywhere and seems to work very well with the Zire.

Bowave miniSync - An easy adapter that lets me plug into almost any PC and transfer files with Card Export.

Styra Pen/Stylus - I love having the pen with me all the time. Feels good in the hand.

Sena Zire 72 Case - The first case I ever bought for a Palm device. I love this case, it is slim, allows me to carry two extra sd cards and has an optional belt clip. Well worth the money.

Palm Ranting

Ok, everyone else is doing it so.... I'll throw in my two cents. I am currently using a Zire 72 generously donated by my wife. I like it quite a bit so far. The only things it lack are a large screen and memory. Memory constantly seems to be a problem. I am using ZLauncher to shuffle stuff off to disk but it would be so much nicer if this thing had about 256 megs of memory! (Hey, I can dream!) I find myself using the Camera and Voice Memo stuff much more than I ever thought I would. Splashblog is a great free app for posting pictures taken with the built-in camera. I coughed up the bills for a leather Sena case because the Blue coating is rubbing off in various places. I aboslutely love the Sena! It is well designed and makes it easy to carry a few spare sd cards.

In my next few posts, I will list my applications and thier cost/usefulness to me. And there are a lot. I may even give u*blog a go to try to post for a while :)

Till then. -joe-

Quotes

Quotes

Now all I need to do is see if Mike will actually use this blog. If not, I will change it and use it for my own purposes.

Changed to ebonair.blogspot.com and switched theme back to me and my Palm :)