Month: November 2008

Blackberry storm review

I’ve been playing around with my iTouch for over a month now, appreciating it more and more every day. On Friday, I bought myself the new Blackberry storm from Verizon.

The bad:

1. The on screen keyboard isn’t effective.
While I like the tactile feedback, the keyboard is cramped. The key you are hovering over is highlighted (to allow you to make a correction before entering the key), but the keyboard is so crammed that the highlighted key is hidden underneath your finger.

2. The keyboard is often in the way and is hard to dismiss.
When using the keyboard, it often dominates the screen real estate, not allowing you to see what you are working on.

3. The UI navigation and accelerometer is sluggish.
There always seems to be a second or 2 lag before applications are opened. Furthermore, switching between landscape and portrait mode usually takes a couple seconds.

4. Commands are often 2 clicks away.
Many of the apps hide common commands away in the application menu. When sending an sms message for example, you have to open the file menu, and then select send message … instead of being able to quickly send the message with one button.

5. No wifi
I’m really puzzled by this. When data is unlimited, I don’t see the motivation to disallow users to use their own bandwidth instead of that of the Verizons

The good

1. Having a 3.2 Mpx camera is sweet!

2. GPS navigation from wireless is fast, accurate, and well designed.

3. The email application is better than the iPhone app.
Emails are consistently cached locally for quick and speedy retreival off or online, while the iPhones messages are rarely cached locally.

The No Complaining Rule

I just finished reading “The No Complaining Rule” by Jon Gordon.
I think I’ve been fortunate to work with, and socialize with generally *positive* people, but the book resonates strongly with me. I often find myself being adversely affected by negativity in work and social settings.

My top 5 things noted from the book:

1. There are 2 reasons why people complain:
– They are fearful and helpless
– Complaining has become habit

2. 80% of people you complain to don’t give a da#$mn, and 20% are happy that you are complaining.

3. “Venting” as people like to call it …. is bull shi#$t.
– I think people justify their complaining by saying that it’s therapeutic in some way. Somehow by “getting things off their chests”, they’ll feel better. I simply don’t believe this. Therapists used to get their clients to knock out a punching bag until they found out that the temporary satisfaction did not outweigh the long term anger and violence it generated. Complaining tends to cultivate negativity and adversely affect both the complainer AND the person being complained to.

4. There is a time and a place for complaining.
– The world isn’t perfect, and one shouldn’t just accept everything in an effort to avoid complaining. Don’t mindlessly complain; but rather complain in an attempt to find a solution to the issue you are complaining about. Use the moment as a signal that there is a problem that needs a solution … not a problem that needs to be ranted about.

5. Allow the grass to grow instead of spraying the weeds.
– Instead of killing off all of the negative energy, foster a positive environment where positive thoughts suffocate the negative ones.

6. Focus on the positive and be grateful
– Pause to think of all of the things that you’re grateful. Recognize that no matter how bad you have it, somebody has it much worse. You can’t be both negative and grateful at the same time, so focus on the positive.

7. It’s YOUR CHOICE
– When dealt with any situation; it’s YOUR CHOICE to focus on the negative of the situation; or else to take the positive path.

I suppose more than anything, I was reminded that happiness is determined 10% by facts, and 90% by presentation and selection of these facts. We all exist in a world that we could either paint to be evil, malicious, and negative … or else one that is happy, and positive. The choice is ours.