The Frying Pan

@derobert I had a headlight, and a strobe, and a rear light in 1989! I am sure if I was biking today, there is a reasonable chance I would have bought 3rd party turning lights.

derobert

9:10 PM

@SAJ14SAJ No, they were big signals, like traffic signals. The big things hanging on the pole telling you when to stop/go

Cerberus

@derobert What signals?

Ah.

derobert

►

Cerberus

Well, perhaps there is a little village somewhere in the country that you haven't visited yet?

derobert

Supposedly, Chicago.

Cerberus

It says they're "novel"...

derobert

9:12 PM

(That clip was copied with the timestamp)

Cerberus

Doesn't that look like Chicago?

Yes, I clicked it.

derobert

If Chicago has bike signals, that's just further proof that Obama is indeed a socialist. :-P

(One can never remember which silly things the Tea Party is claiming...)

Cerberus

Hah.

Notice how that video is one big Dutch propaganda thing.

0

9:16 PM

This cheap little phone even supports and SD card, although its under the cover. Its amazing to me how cheap these things have become.

derobert

@Cerberus Wow, if we went cycling with dogs, it'd be to have them pull the bike. Like a dogsled team.

Cerberus

@SAJ14SAJ "Even": on the contrary, nearly all cheap phones have card readers, luckily.

@derobert That would be very convenient, yes!

But you'd need several dogs.

(Or one Cerberus.)

So would you say the things in the video are really unusual in your country?

SAJ14SAJ

@Cerberus And yet the walledPhone... erm iPhone eschews them.

Cerberus

And is it cheap?

derobert

@Cerberus Yep. I think that's normal on a dogsled team.

SAJ14SAJ

9:20 PM

The walledPhone? No, it is the very definition of expensive.

Cerberus

Google is trying the same trick with no SD cards.

It is a way to force people to pay extra, I think.

Consider this.

If you go from 32 GB to 64 GB, you pay about 100 dollars more for an Iphone 5, or used to.

derobert

@Cerberus At least around here. So rare to see cyclists out at all... But I'm not in the city.

Cerberus

The cost of that extra memory, on the other hand, is somewhere below 15 dollars.

@derobert Ah OK.

SAJ14SAJ

I have a 32 mb ipod touch. It was $300 IIRC.

Cerberus

MB??

SAJ14SAJ

9:21 PM

And I bought the thing, loaded it up, and hardly ever use it.

MB, GB, whatever it is. I am old and senile.

Cerberus

Heh.

derobert

What do you do with SD cards? I haven't missed them in my last two phones.

Cerberus

Ipod, pea pod, whatever.

@derobert Increase your memory.

SAJ14SAJ

My company is getting my a replacement BB. Its a BlackBerry Curve 9360, but it won't arrive for a couple weeks, I think.

@derobert I don't know, it was just a surprising feature. Its not like I am going to put music on this thing.

Cerberus

@derobert I have to say I don't use a lot of memory either. But I could put a couple of films on my phone.

derobert

9:23 PM

But, to store what? If you want your entire music collection, SD cards don't come that big. If you want to stream music, you don't need to store it locally.

SAJ14SAJ

Maybe I can stream netflix!

Cerberus

@SAJ14SAJ Why not? I can replace your Ipod.

@SAJ14SAJ You probably can.

SAJ14SAJ

@Cerberus My iPod works just fine for music, and its already loaded with 200 CDs I ripped from my legacy collection.

Cerberus

@derobert Do you have unlimited mobile data at high speed? Do you have excellent coverage with high speeds everywhere, including country roads, inside buildings, at rush hour near train stations?

SAJ14SAJ

And of course I am, as Apple intended, hostage to iTunes for that.

Cerberus

9:24 PM

@SAJ14SAJ Well, you could load that on your phone and carry around one device fewer.

Haha.

SAJ14SAJ

@Cerberus I don't know... the plan is pay as you go, $45 for a full month of everything unlimited.

$30 if you don't want data.

$60 if you want to call the Netherlands.

derobert

@Cerberus I could have unlimited high-speed data if I wanted it. But I carry around my MP3 player (which has a hard disk) in my car for listening when around.

SAJ14SAJ

MP3 with hard disks still exist?

Cerberus

@SAJ14SAJ Ah, but is it unlimited high-speed Internet? They often reduce the speed to unusable at 5 GB or less.

derobert

Its an old one, but I think they still make some...

Cerberus

9:26 PM

Another device...

SAJ14SAJ

@Cerberus Probably not. BUt to read email, or maybe go on SA and write a comment, shouldn't be a big deal. It has Wifi for real stuff.

Cerberus

Sure.

SAJ14SAJ

@Cerberus True... but I have a laptop bag anyway.

Cerberus

I was explaining to Derobert why you might want to put lots of music and films on your phone.

SAJ14SAJ

Waiting for the battery to charge is trying my limited patience.

Cerberus

9:27 PM

All right, if you carry around a large bag anyway, I suppose more devices don't matter.

The battery was shipped empty?

Odd.

SAJ14SAJ

@Cerberus I would have rather had an iPhone for that reason, but I didn't want to pay $600

It was at about 2/3 it seems, and it doesn't want to start yet. Unless I am playing with it wrong.

Cerberus

Why an Iphone?

derobert

@Cerberus I tried it at one point. Phone are stuck at a level of storage which is enough to be tempting, but nowhere near enough to just copy everything over

Cerberus

@SAJ14SAJ Huh, that's weird?

derobert

@SAJ14SAJ It should turn on with 2/3

Cerberus

9:28 PM

@derobert That is true...

SAJ14SAJ

Its just showing my a little picture of a battery when I press the button on the side

Cerberus

How do you know it's at 2/3 if it doesn't turn on?

SAJ14SAJ

Up to about 3/4 green

derobert

hold the button down longer

Cerberus

Press it longer.

SAJ14SAJ

9:29 PM

Well, that is all it is doing.

derobert

either that, or unplug it from the charger, then turn it on

SAJ14SAJ

Ah. Thanks for the tip, I am an idiot it seems.

derobert

how old was your last phone...?!

SAJ14SAJ

Very very old. And it was a blackberry.

derobert

Most phones now make you hold the button for a bit, I guess to prevent accidental power-on if it bumps something in your pocket, etc.

Though who carries a phone that's turned off, I don't know

SAJ14SAJ

9:31 PM

No joy on pressing longer, this thing hates me. I held different buttons for like 10 seconds. I might have to resort, shamefully, to the manual.

derobert

LOL, try unplugging it from the charger

SAJ14SAJ

Really?

derobert

give it 10s or so once you unplug it, then hold down the power button for a few seconds

SAJ14SAJ

Ok

derobert

if that doesn't work, then you may indeed have to try the manual

Or Google.

SAJ14SAJ

9:32 PM

Ooh, its booting

Why would you have to remove the charger to boot?

derobert

it probably got confused with all the buttons you pressed. Or they got to $100 by spending nothing on UX.

You should be able to plug it back in once its booting.

Cerberus

UX?

User experience?

derobert

yeah

SAJ14SAJ

Wow activation is tedious.

derobert

hah, it could be worse, you could be entering the wifi password

SAJ14SAJ

9:40 PM

I will have to do that eventually. Which means looking it up since I never type it.

derobert

Mine is 62 random characters.

SAJ14SAJ

Eeew.

I am not that security crazy :-)

I could never type that.

I am not that good a typist.

I would take about 4.5 years on average to get it right.

derobert

Hah, I just got to do it like 6 times a few days ago, trying to get my Galaxy Nexus to connect, after coming back from Samsung... And it'll go back to them, as they didn't fix the 5GHz WiFi.

SAJ14SAJ

Ot sees ,y wofo amd os aslomg ,e abpit ot/ A;pmg wotj 5- frp, ,y meogjbprs

Well, that is what I get for touch typing without checking where my fingers are

derobert

LOL

SAJ14SAJ

9:41 PM

It sees the local wifi networks and is asking me about them.

derobert

Well, there's your problem, try hunt-and-peck!

Yes, it probably wants to connect to yours. You should be able to skip that step if you want.

SAJ14SAJ

I am going to tell it, I want it to know

derobert

(You can connect it to wifi later. Say, using Barcode Scanner, and a QR code generator)

SAJ14SAJ

Its keyboard is like the iTouch but maybe not as smooth.

I feel like I am live chatting this silly cheap phone, but I am surprised how good it is for the money.

@derobert Do people really use QR for anything but a joke?

derobert

Scanning a QR code beats typing 62 random characters!

SAJ14SAJ

9:47 PM

I imagine so, although I didn't realize there was a standard for doing that.

I have never used a QR code for anything.

derobert

Yep. You can use QR codes to join a wifi network

SAJ14SAJ

Restaurants should put them on their doors, then :-)

See that was nearly on topic!

derobert

Hah, they could. But if the network is open, you don't need to put in a password, so its not so bad to just click it in the phone UI

Cerberus

@derobert And you will download this scanner from...

SAJ14SAJ

So few just have open networks any more :-(

But dogfish does!

derobert

9:52 PM

@Cerberus If you have cell data, that way. Else, sideload over USB.

Cerberus

Right.

I'd rather type in my password, which is 7 letters lower case.

And my tethering password is "internet".

SAJ14SAJ

c e b e r u s

Cerberus

Better than your usual spelling.

By the way, you need to get Swype ASAP.

SAJ14SAJ

What is that?

derobert

Swype or Swiftkey

Actually, Android now has swiping in its default keyboard

zxing.appspot.com/generator ... will make QR codes for all kinds of things for you

Cerberus

9:56 PM

@SAJ14SAJ play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nuance.swype.trial

@derobert He's on 4.0.

Maybe he can download the 4.2 keyboard from the Play Store...I don't know. But Swype is better anyway.

derobert

I think the new keyboard may work on 4.0... Its in the play store, forget what version of Android it requires

Cerberus

OK, then it will probably work.

But Swype is much better.

derobert

@Cerberus Yes, and Swiftkey better yet still :-P

Cerberus

Also better than Swiftkey.

No, no, Swype's gesture recognition is better than Swiftkey.

I've done several tests.

SAJ14SAJ

I can see SA, but not sure how to login on the mobile version. No theming, it looks like boring SE.

I am using the Chrome on it, not their "customized" browser which I dont trust.

Cerberus

9:59 PM

SA?

derobert

@Cerberus But you don't use gestures on Swiftkey. They have them, but its silly...

@Cerberus Possibly, our site?

Cerberus

Ohh that site haha.

SAJ14SAJ

Seasoned Advise, our little website?

Cerberus

I kept thinking Stack Axchange.

@derobert Gestures are the fastest way to type on a small screen...

I cringe every time I have to actually peck a word that isn't in Swype's dictionary.

So slow and cumbersome...

derobert

Well, that's because when pecking in a word not in Swype's dictionary (or Swiftkeys) you have to actually hit the keys

You can miss almost all of them, and Swiftkey will still figure it out, at least for words in its dictionary

SAJ14SAJ

10:05 PM

I called my friend's voicemail... so my minimal functionality set is in place!

Cerberus

@derobert I suppose that is true.

But still.

I like Swiftkey all right.

But, really swiping is faster than pecking. Both have auto-correct.

SAJ14SAJ

This thing is an incredible value for the price. I am amazed. I thought I was just buying a cheap throw away.

Cerberus

Nope, Android is really good.

With your $100 phone, you already have more functionality than with a $600 Iphone.

SAJ14SAJ

I just have to figure out how to make it tell me what phone number it thinks it has.

Seems that way.

And no contract!

Cerberus

Like widgets and Swype/Swiftkey and lots more.

@SAJ14SAJ What do you mean?

Oh, you mean your own phone number

You could call your own voicemail.

1233 on my phone.

derobert

10:10 PM

@Cerberus Wait! With his $100 phone, I bet he doesn't have the "hold phone in normal manner to disconnect call" feature.

Or the proprietary "navigate me into an ocean" iMaps

SAJ14SAJ

It doesn't say those are features, no.

Cerberus

@derobert Hehehe. Fair enough, Apple does have unique features, Antennagate III, or the how manieth was it?

SAJ14SAJ

Kindle app, and netflix. Must download :-)

Cerberus

@SAJ14SAJ There was an issue with several Iphones where they would disconnect if your finger touched the antenna built into the side of the phone, something like that.

SAJ14SAJ

I remember reading about that on one of my tech blogs.

Apple ended up giving away free "bumpers"

Cerberus

10:12 PM

So you lack that feature.

SAJ14SAJ

I will have to live without it.

derobert

Time to go home. Enjoy your new phone.

Cerberus

You could refrain from installing useful applications if you want some Apple features.

Bai.

SAJ14SAJ

@derobert Bon soir.

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