Lots of geek stuff that I haven’t posted about lately.
I’m gradually getting in deeper and deeper with the Nokia 3650 that I mentioned in a previous post. I wrote my first Java app for it last night. Yeah, it was just the obligatory HelloWorld app and it wasn’t much, but at least it’s something. It’s my first foray into J2ME. I have yet to come up with a good idea for an app, but I’ll think of something. I’m contemplating some sort of web services client. I could try out either the google api or Amazon’s for a first attempt. I hadn’t mentioned it, but I downloaded a Commodore 64 emulator and am now able to play things like Zaxxon and Pitfall on my phone. I also found copies of LodeRunner and Miner 2049er, two games that I spent quite a lot of time with as a young lad.
We’ve finally joined the rest of the world in desktop computing. I’ve been on a Micron 300mhz PC since late 1997. It was brand new and bleeding edge at the time, but it’s woefully outdated now. I think I paid almost three grand for it. I picked up a Dell Dimension 4100 700mhz PC from work overstock and just bought a DVD/CD burner for it. This is my first CD/DVD burner. Pretty pathetic. I’m waiting for Amazon to deliver a copy of Nero before installing it. Truthfully, even the "new" Dell is underpowered and just barely meets the minimum requirements for the burner. I think my next PC purchase will be one that I build myself (probably an AMD 64-bit processor) so that I can cannibalize existing parts including my new DVD burner.
After hearing all the reviews about Panther (the new version of Mac OS X), I’ve been lusting after a Powerbook or an iBook, but I think I’ll resist those temptations and busy myself with installing Debian or something on Henry’s old PC. He’s getting my Micron 300mhz as Mary got a 700mhz Dell laptop (also a purchase from the overstock at work). I hooked her up with a 54G wireless card so she use it throughout the house while chasing down the Princess. I already resisted going for one of the new Zaurus PDAs, a temptation that Jason seems to have succumbed to.
In addition to all of this other geek junk, I bought a USB/Bluetooth adapter to allow my phone and Dell to talk with each other at home. I’ve been transferring files via the IR port on my work laptop until now.