iPhone Fun

I just recently got an iPhone and I love it. I am a girl geek at heart and I have been having a great time learning to use one the most highly hyped gadgets of all time. Its camera is great and I decided to share a few snappies of things that brought a smile to my face today.

These are the fortunes from last night’s Chinese food. I never eat the cookies but I can’t bring myself to toss them until I have broken them open to check out the messages. All in all these were satisfactory fortunes – I will let you know what happens on Tuesday.

Sumatra oranges like these are sooo easy to peel. I have seen these called honey tangelos too. They are scrumptious and I love the fact they come to market with stems and leaves still attached! I always smile when I see these piled up at Whole Foods.

Finally, my favorite moment of the day! I was eating lunch in our cafeteria where we have these tiny, impossible to resist desserts. I was reaching for this tiny tart and the pastry chef asked me why I reached back past the front to grab this one from the back. I had no idea why but as I was about to eat it I saw this little happy face! Of course I ate it anyway!

Compulsive Communicator

I have become one of those people. You might call me a workaholic. One ex-boyfriend did. I prefer to think of myself as a compulsive communicator.

I have two cellphones. One is for my personal life and one is for work. I didn’t want my work to pay for my calls to my family in Canada and I also wanted to be able to leave my work phone at home on the weekends. Okay, admittedly I have not left it behind yet but I will someday!

Some days I find myself at Peets or Starbucks in the middle of a morning as I run between offsite meetings. Usually at 10 or 11 AM the buck is a-hopping! People are sitting around, sipping coffee and a small few might be chit chatting. A lot are reading a paper or working on their Mac. It is almost always a Mac.

WHO are these people? I am a bit jealous as they sip long, frothy, creamy lattes while I do a few shots of espresso to get me to my next appointment. HOW come they seem so relaxed? Don’t these people have jobs to get back to? WHY do they have all this time for coffee!?

The truth is I am a jealous but I am also addicted to being connected and yes, I admit, addicted to my work. Being relaxed and not in touch or communicating in some way is strange to me. It’s like I am a fish and the Internet and 3G network have become my ocean. If I get disconnected I can’t happily swim around and I start flopping about gasping for air.

I get antsy if I am away from my cellphone for more than a few minutes. I get annoyed if someone does not respond to email within a 24 hour period. My sister doesn’t check email everyday – to me that is absolutely crazy. It makes me nuts! Then there is a voicemail. If I leave you a voicemail and you love me please call me back. Otherwise I think you are dead in a ditch somewhere. Really, that is what I think. I am not kidding. So, please call me back!

iPhone

Tomorrow is going to be my most exciting technology day ever. YES, ever! And that is saying something considering I have had access to some pretty cool tech over the years. I am getting my iPhone! My first iPhone! Woohoo! I could have gotten one before but I believe in adopting technology at the second or third generation. I figure by then the developer has the bugs worked out.

As you can read I am very excited. I am getting a 3Gs of course. It takes a lot in terms of gadgets to get me really excited. I think the only time I might have been this giddy about a purchase was when I bought my first brand new car. Here are a few reasons why I am inspired to use so many exclamation points:

• The Apps Store – need I say more?
• It does everything. Photos, videos, Wi-Fi, it can stream content from my home network and more.
• It’s damn pretty and we all know I like pretty.
• Touchscreen!
• It seems like every second single guy I meet in the bay area is developing iPhone applications as a sideline, so I figure this will help my social life.
• Two of my favorite things in one – my phone and my iPod.
• Did I mention it is pretty?
  
  

Making Technology Yummy!

It’s a commonly touted fact in the tech industry that women play a huge role in the purchasing decisions for consumer electronics. I have been lucky to meet many interesting journalists but the field is heavily dominated by men. I don’t mind these men :-P, but as an egalitarian I admire women who make their mark in this testosterone fueled business. Heck – I aspire to make my mark too!

So I love to see lady technologistas I admire create cool, new ventures. Two of the women who I have considered among the best technology journalists I know recently came up with a new venture – www.techlicious.com. They have quite the pedigrees too. For many years Suzanne Kantra served as technology editor for Popular Science and later in the same role at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Similarly, Toby Grumet Segal was the technology editor for Popular Mechanics.

Techlicious is a blog that, “serves the role of that tech-savvy friend who women can count on to share tips and tricks to get the most out of technology.” Their mission is to cut through the hype and technical jargon to give you the information you need, in easy to understand language. They make tech simple.

Personally, I love all the video they incorporate. So much better than reading a cut and pasted spec sheet. Are you looking for friendly, palatable advice and opinions on that new netbook, HDTV or Blu-ray player? Then techlicious.com is definitely worth checking out.