Rumi-nations

By cliopatra

Apr

4

Happy Easter everyone!

I spent a lot of time yesterday reading up on the Kindle because I am so excited that mine will be here next week.  I have a good friend who has one who is teaching me a few tricks to get me started.

Yesterday when I was looking at the Kindle page on Amazon again, I noticed that the Kindle for Blackberry is now available, and I got excited about it.  When I tried to download it to my Blackberry I was informed that my Blackberry Curve is not a supported device.  Boo!

I only own one ebook as of right now, and it’s The Spark.  I bought it through B&N, and I read it on their ereader on my Blackberry. I *think* I have now got it converted so it will work on the Kindle, but I won’t know until the Kindle gets here!

I did a search on “first book you bought for Kindle” and I don’t know why, but I was amazed at how many different types of books people used as their first purchase.  I was hoping to get some great ideas for my first purchase, and all I got was overwhelmed.

Meanwhile, I was reading some blogs and ran across a couple of Rumi poems and remembered how very much I love Rumi, so I’ve decided that my first purchase is going to be A Year with Rumi: Daily Readings (only the Kindle version).  I will probably download his love poems, as well.

Here is one of my favorites:

Those who don’t feel this Love
pulling them like a river,
those who don’t drink dawn
like a cup of spring water
or take in sunset like supper,
those who don’t want to change,

let them sleep.

This Love is beyond the study of theology,
that old trickery and hypocrisy.
I you want to improve your mind that way,

sleep on.

I’ve given up on my brain.
I’ve torn the cloth to shreds
and thrown it away.

If you’re not completely naked,
wrap your beautiful robe of words
around you,

and sleep.


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Quick Fix

By cliopatra

Jan

12

A photograph of the BlackBerry Curve

Image via Wikipedia

 

I’ve had my wonderful Blackberry for what? Six or seven months now?

On New Year’s Eve I wanted to take some pictures, and whenever I would try to start the camera on the phone I would get the error “Could not start the camera. Close other applications and try opening the camera again.” (I have a Blackberry Curve 8330.)

Whenever I would start the video camera it would start up ok, but when I hit the record button, the program would shut down and send me back to the main menu.

I tried closing applications, deleting applications, taking the battery out and putting it back in, all with limited success.  For the last week or so, it hasn’t worked at all, no matter what I did.

I kept searching, hoping to find something, anything that would work.  I finally ran across the solution the hard way.  I found a forum that was discussing the same problem, and way down deep in the very lowest corner I found a respondent who had linked to another forum on another site that had the solution I was looking for.

This is apparently not a software problem, but a hardware issue.  To solve it:

1.  Remove the battery cover.

2.  Using a q-tip, push the lens back in. 

3.  Close the battery cover.

According to the forum you do not need to remove the battery (you don’t need to remove it to access the lens).  However, I removed the battery and then put it back in after I pushed down on the lens, because without the battery pull the fix didn’t work.

It works fine now.  I hope this helps you!  (And, uh, stop dropping your cell phone!)

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Helpful Stuff

By cliopatra

Dec

17

Image representing Opera Software as depicted ...
Image via CrunchBase

I am probably (ok usually) the last to know about tech stuff, but when I find something I really love, I want to talk about it. I’ve got two of those things today.

NUTSHELLMAIL
I first started using NutShellMail about a year ago. It’s a service that will e-mail you all of the status updates for your social networking sites, all in one big e-mail at the times and days that you specify.

I currently use it for Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn. I get e-mails 3 times a day with the latest information from all of those sites as it relates to me.

Why do I love it? It keeps me from having to sign in to all of those sites every single day. I can keep up without straining myself.

Why am I just now writing about it? Well, today they started a new e-mail format wherein you can comment, reply, even write on someone’s wall right from the e-mail. Before you had to log in to the social networking site or reply to the email to do that. If, like my company, yours has blocked certain sites, you can use this as a workaround. I only wish they had it three days ago when I was trying to win a contest!

OPERA
I downloaded Opera to my Blackberry when I first got it, and haven’t used it much since. It seemed silly to me that the browser window shows a miniature web page and you have to read it in sections.

Last night I finally figured out why that was so useful. I was having trouble making something happen on my laptop in both Chrome and IE, so I tried it in the Opera browser on the Blackberry and it worked like a charm.  It’s very nice not to have to look at a web page that is all scrunched up on the screen, either.

I even downloaded the browser on the laptop and I am figuring out the ins and outs of that too.  I think they call it “Opera” because you sing “ahhhhhh” when you see what it can do for you.

So there you have it, the tech report from a nontech girl.

blue signature

 

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Finally Vindicated

By cliopatra

Sep

10

Sprint Blackberry Curve 8330

Image by nino63004 via Flickr

I have been with Sprint for my cell phone service since at least 2001. I’ve stayed with them because the ugly alternative was high contract termination fees and the devil I didn’t know – some other carrier.

I do like Sprint. There is coverage nearly everywhere in the US (except in far flung parts of Maine where there wasn’t even indoor plumbing) and roaming is free nationwide.

They’ve futzed with their plans just like everyone else, and my monthly fees have inched ever upward as my needs have changed.

When I switched to the Blackberry I took a deep breath and sucked up the additional monthly charges for increased minutes and an all-inclusive data plan. I’d rather cut off cable than my precious internet and texting. I didn’t go with the unlimited everything plan because that was the difference between eating and not eating every month.

I’m thrilled because today Sprint unveiled their latest calling plan, which is automatic for subscribers who have a data plan. Now any call to or from any mobile phone in the US regardless of provider, is free. Those calls will be included in the unlimited usage instead of the anytime minutes. Only calls to and from landlines will apply to usage totals.

This is definitely going to change the way I use my cell phone.

 

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Things I Am Loving Right Now

By cliopatra

Aug

17

Sprint Blackberry Curve 8330
Image by nino63004 via Flickr

Having not blogged in a while must mean I’ve been busy, and I suppose I have.  I’ve been busy loving stuff!

1. Blackberry.  I’ve had it about a month and I’m thinking of having it surgically implanted, probably on my thigh or something.  I love being able to access my e-mail and the internet from anywhere, plus the way it works with facebook and Google makes my heart sing.  I love the applications and Pandora and WordPress and e-readers and the list goes on and on.

2.  Zemanta.  Oh, Zemanta, how I love thee.  I thought this was just a Firefox plugin, and I just don’t use Firefox anymore (because my heart belongs to Google Chrome).  I installed the Zemanta plug in for WordPress and blogging will never be the same for me.

 

Image representing Zemanta as depicted in Crun...

Image via

Zemanta doesn’t just offer pictures and links to fit your subject matter, it also offers links for topics.  You just click the button and it automatically links things – in fact, all of the links and pretties in this post were provided by Zemanta.

 

I hate tagging posts, but Zemanta provides suggested tags that you just click and you’re done!

3.  Samson Go Mic.  Irish brought one of these home from the music store where he takes lessons.  I guess they had just gotten them in.  It’s a very affordable compact microphone that clips on a laptop and has switchable cardioid and omni polar patterns.   I downloaded Audacity and did a couple of test clips and I love this microphone!  It makes me think podcasting might be fun.  It is now on my Christmas list.

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Testing

By cliopatra

Jul

11

Why yes, I am trying to figure out how to post from the new Blackberry.

What??? I told you I was addicted!

O M G

By cliopatra

Apr

5

I think I mentioned the other day that my husband discovered a raspberry thicket in our backyard.  Well, we were both wrong.

He just came in and handed me the most beautiful, ripe, juicy BLACKBERRY (small, but still).  It was delicious.

I am a blackberry freak, from the time I used to eat them right off the bushes as a kid in Oklahoma.  I am in heaven now!