Popping Corn?

Trickster Evog shared a video with me today on youtube where some guys surrounded some kernels of popping corn with four cell phone devices, then initiated calls to each of them. They all backed off and watched as the kernels one by one popped open into popcorn. It's very entertaining to say the least... if not fright provoking.

Before throwing all my cell devices in the trash... I did some research on snopes and learned that this is a hoax. The videos were part of a marketing scheme lauched by Cardo Systems, a provider of bluetooth headset solutions, in June 08.

Flickr for BlackBerry

In a previous post I described the ability to upload photos to Flickr via email. You just enable the feature in your Flickr account to get the top secret email address. Then attach a photo, add a subject and brief description and send. This is definately a great advancement since it enables you to easily post from a mobile phone or BlackBerry with integrated camera.

Now one thing that I've been studying for some time now is the integration of GPS coordinates into the meta data of the JPG photo known as geotagging. I've learned through my sources that geotagging photos will be a native function available in BlackBerry handheld OS version 4.5. I can't wait for this OS to be released!

Today I stumbled across Flickr for BlackBerry on RIMarkable. Not only does it provide a slick mobile Flickr Uploadr, but you guessed it... It will geotag the photos using the integrated BlackBerry GPS prior to upload to Flickr.

Download it for yourself:
http://www.blackberry.com/flickrdownload

Curve 8310 Battery Life?

One thing that's really getting to concern me about the new ATT Blackberry Curve 8310 that I purchased two months ago is the battery life. My previous T-mobile BlackBerry 8800 could last approx three full working days of heavy email and occasional phone and GPS use. Soon after switching to the new 8310 device I found the battery was getting down in the 20% remaining by 5:00pm. While this is no big deal when I am in the office, it is a huge concern when travelling. Leaving a meeting at 5:00pm and heading for dinner on 20% battery is concerning since I am likely going to be using the GPS to navigate to and from the restaurant and will really be concerned if I cannot make a call once the battery is dead and I am lost!

With some help from colleague Thorson, I've determined that the poor battery life is directly linked to GPS usage. He suggested that I try abstaining from any GPS use for a whole day... whew, what a challenge for me. I found by not using the GPS, I had approx 90% remaining at 10:00pm after a busy work day and evening. Likewise, if I used the GPS even for a short site visit in the morning commute, the battery life would immediately suffer. It almost seems that the GPS doesn't stop after exiting a variety of GPS dependent applications (ex: Google Mobile, Telenav, BBMaps).

Here's my next purchase to remedy this problem: Seidio 2600mAh Blackberry Curve Extended Battery

RoadsideAmerica

Secondary to planning your GeoCaching stops when travelling to a new destination, you'll want to consider the unique opportunities that may be available to experience or see. This is where RoadsideAmerica comes to the rescue.

RoadsideAmerica.com - Your Online Guide to Offbeat Tourist Attractions

For my upcoming trip to attend eBay Live! in Chicago, there are several interesting opportnuties that RoadsideAmerica has got me wanting to visit.

• Ed Debevic's Rude Diner
• Cigar Store Indian
• Muffler Man - Mr Bendo