Newbrew

World Cities - Atlanta Has an Enviable Rank

I was just poking around on the internet and found an interesting ranking of world cities.  Here are the top 20 ranked first by GDP and then next population (2010 rankings).  Best is to be high on the GDP list with a low population ranking.  Atlanta does VERY well in this regard.  Eight of the top 20 cities (in GDP) are located in the US.  Atlanta and Houston not only are wealthy and have relatively low populations and also provide a low cost of living and lots of space for growth.

City	GDP Rank	Population Rank
Tokyo	1	1
New York	2	6
Los Angeles	3	12
Chicago	4	25
London	5	28
Paris	6	20
Osaka	7	17
Mexico City	8	5
Sao Paulo	9	3
Washington	10	42
Boston	11	41
Buenos Aires	12	11
Moscow	13	19
Hong Kong	14	31
Atlanta	15	39
San Francisco	16	46
Houston	17	40
Munich	18	35
Seoul	19	22
Frankfurt	20	64

Source:  Foreign Policy Global Cities Index 2010.  http://www.foreignpolicy.com/node/373401.

Move To Android

I recently decided that my Blackberry just didn't provide what I needed anymore.  Yes, it made phone
calls.  It also received mail and allowed me to compose outbound mail.  The Facebook app worked.  So did the Twitter app.  Battery life was good.  Durability was excelent.  The browser?  It was terrible.  Screen size, too small (for these near 50 eyes .)  Video?  Forget about it.  While my iPhone can take the place of my laptop for much of the time, my Blackberry was basically a better phone and not much more. 

I had considered moving strictly to my iPhone.  But, AT&T has the worst talk plans in the US.  Plus, T-Mobile offers something no other carrier offers:  Wifi calling (or UMA for those in the know.)  Wifi calling is great when you're in a basement or in the middle of an office building allowing you to use the Internet (via Wifi) to login to T-Mobile.  This feature is also great for use when you're overseas.

So, I went to T-Mobile almost a month ago and started looking at their two top phones:  The Samsung Galazy S II and the HTC Amaze 4G.  Both have dual-core 1.5Ghz processors, both support "4G" data speeds (via HSPA+) and both currently run Gingerbread, the latest Android operating system.  Both have large screens, lots of memory, MicroSD card slots, 8MP cameras, GPS and more.  But, this decision wasn't just my own.  My wife too had the same Blackberry I had and she really wanted either an iPhone or something similar.  She too suffered from the lack of a descent Internet experience.

We both went for the HTC.  And though Wifi calling wasn't out yet, we figured it would be soon.  Just this week it was released and works (still with some lag and echo though.)  I also like many other features of the phone including availability of apps, the speed and ease of use of the browser and the UI provided by HTC (on top of Android.)  However, Android isn't for those uncomfortable with customization.  You have to be somewhat tech savvy to get the phone to do all you want.  This is the opposite of the iPhone where everything works out of the box.  For example, the native HTC email app doesn't work with SMTP on a Zimbra server.  The native HTC calendar app doesn't support CalDav.  Yes, there are work arounds.  I use K9 (free) for email on the Zimbra server.  I use a $2.88 app that supports CalDav and allows me to use the native calendar app to sync with the same Zimbra server.  What a pain though to figure out what works and what doesn't work. 

Other apps don't work the same on Android as they do on the iPhone.  ESPN Scorecenter doesn't push out alerts on Android.  This is bad during football season.  However, Angry Birds is FREE on Android.  That's a plus!  Pandora (I'm a Pandora One subscriber) and Netflix work well.  So does SiriusXM.

Battery life though is a real problem.  Of course, the iPhone 4S suffers the same problem.  Perhaps these dual-core processor, bright screen, multi-radio (4G, 3G, 2G, Bluetooth, Wifi) features mated with limited multi-tasking and smart app management all combine to accelerate power usage.

If Google and the limited number of manufacturers out there focus on giving users the same seamless experience Apple provides, competition will ensure new features and capabilities will keep coming.  I am an iPhone user and fan.  I'm also a long time Mac user.  But, don't be an Apple automaton.  There are many excellent smartphone choices!  I hope soon to have a reason to buy and test Windows Phone 7.5, perhaps even mated to Nokia hardware.

Mobile Phone Bill Shock

This past week, I've seen a flurry of news reports about how the mobile phone services industry is reacting to a problem before any government action is taken.  On what you ask?  Sticker shock!  It seems that as we (all of us) have become more and more dependent on our mobile phones, the more we have forgotten what services plans we have with our mobile carrier causing many to receive high bills and associated anxiety.  But, before Washington hits us all with more regulation, the carriers have decided to start sending out warnings when plan services are exceeded.  

Some of the stories I've seen on the news just this week are completely ridiculous.  One was about a young girl who sent over 10,000 text messages in one month.  Here's one I just read.  A Florida woman allowed her two deaf mute brothers (on her plan) to take their phones to Canada for a two week trip where they sent over 2,000 text messages and used data constantly.  Their normal bill of $175 per month shot to over $200,000.  Here's the full story.  http://tinyurl.com/3fetyrm.  

This happens to all of us.  I'm a seasoned international traveler.  I've seen bills of up to $3,000 in a month and that's with just phone usage, no text messages, no data.  This past December, I forgot to put my iPhone in "Airplane Mode" when I landed in Hong Kong.  Six hours later in Manila, I realized my mistake and turned it off.  The cost?  An additional $250 just for six hours of data usage in Hong Kong and in Manila.  For that same trip, my Blackberry, used on T-Mobile, rang up another $1,000 in charges, all data.  But, I covered it with company funds.  Never the less, that's $1,000 that could have gone elsewhere as I didn't need that much convenience related to email.

There are ways business people can avoid these charges.  First, don't use your mobile phone internationally unless you're really that important.  And if you're really that important, you can afford the charges.  I traveled internationally for years without a mobile phone and survived.  I used a calling card after a work day and had short chats with my family.  

If you want to feel connected to home while traveling abroad, there are ways to avoid charges.  First, sign up for a Skype account.  You can use it on your computer and on iPhone and Android phones.  Before you leave the US, turn off your mobile radio and leave on just wifi.  When you get settled in your new location, find wifi (it's everywhere, even in the third world.)  Pay for service and then use Skype on your phone to reach someone using Skype on their computer back home.  If you really want to enhance your business life, add a Skype subscription covering the US and Canada for only $4.99 per month.  An online number from Skype adds another $50 or so per year.  You can then make outbound calls with Skype on your mobile and people can call you back.  If you're offline, the calls go to voicemail.  Before you leave home, forward your mobile calls to your Skype number.  When you're back home, forward your Skype calls to your mobile.

If all of that is too hard, just buy a block of Skype usage.  When it's gone, you fill it up again.

Here's another little known secret.  Many T-Mobile phones support UMA or unlicensed mobile access.  UMA enabled phones allow for logging in to the carrier via wifi.  I love this feature.  When I'm abroad, I bring an Apple Express Base Station along - http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/.  I plug it into the wall in my hotel room and then plug the Ethernet cable into the it.  First, I use my computer to authenticate Internet services.  My UMA enabled Blackbery already recognizes the router and connects via wifi, I keep the mobile radio off.  Then my Blackberry logs in to T-Mobile in the USA and I'm live with my phone, from anywhere, just as if I were in the USA.  I'm not roaming at that point.  This works with any wifi internet connection.  However, you do need reasonable bandwidth to have a good call.  Many of the new Android phones at T-Mobile support UMA.

If you don't want to worry with Skype, try Google Voice in Gmail.  You can make outbound calls back to the US for free.  People can't call you.  And, you'll need to be on your computer.  But, it's free.

For normal people going abroad, just turn your phone off.  Your mobile carrier will only forgive you 1 or 2 times.  And there are so many other ways to keep in touch, for next to nothing.

Kid to Patriarch

This coming Monday would have been my father's 79th birthday.  Just 1 year from 80.  I guess he really was getting OLD.  This coming Tuesday, my grandmother would have turned 95.  And my grandfather would have already turned 97.  Next month my mother turns 76.  And that makes me..........old too?  Yep, I turn 50 in January.  I guess, in the eyes of children and young adults, I am "old".  I just doesn't feel that way though.  I'm in good health, enjoy life and work and look forward to the next day.  I feel "young".  But, here are the things in our modern society that cause us to thnk and feel old:

 - Rules/laws.  You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a law or rule.  On the road, at the workplace, in the classroom.  We need to elect state and federal representatives who are set on eliminating those laws that attempt to socially engineer us into a straight jacket.  We don't need the current IRS code.  We don't need Obamacare's labyrinth of turns and curves (and associated cost).  Kids need to be free, even 50 year old kids.  And we can't be in an overly engineered society.

 - Large workplaces.  In our younger years, our largest organization was our football team, our band, our neighborhood.  Now we have companies with 100000 employees.  We need to be in small businesses where we can get back that neighborhood baseball team feel.  Where we can be close to the coach/owner.

 - Fiscally unsound government.  When we were kids, our parents made sure the bills were paid, the roof didn't leak, the food was in the pantry and that we got to church on time.  Basic things that allowed us to be able to play and grow.  Our government(s) today spend more than they take in and need to tax and borrow more just to build power for those who don't care about being kids.  How can we be kids when our government can't provide the basics anymore?  No, we don't want them providing our food and shelter.  But, we do want them to provide security and protect our freedoms.  Seems they don't do well at those and as well put in Rules (see above) that hinder freedom.  We need to right their financial path and limit their ability to do harm.  A sound government will us to focus on more important things.  Such as enjoying life.

Yes, I'm now the patriarch of my family.  The oldest male.  I want to do all those things that keep my children feeling safe and loved.  So they can enjoy being children.  But, I too want to continue feeling young.  Guess I should turn off the news, turn up the music and revel in the fact that I am able to pay the bills working in small businesses where I can be offensive, funny, inappropriate at times, hard working and even bring beer into the office while using the phone for personal matters.  Yep, all that should keep that patriarch status in check!

 

Google Music

I've been testing Google Music for over a month.  Google Music is really different from other music services I use such as Pandora.  Pandora streams you music based on what you indicate you like.  It's not your music.  You can just listen to it.  Google Music let's you upload tracks you have and makes them available from a browser (and Internet connection.)  You don't share your tracks with others, but merely make them available over the Internet.

At first, it drove me crazy.  I have amost 10,000 tracks in my libary and it took a few days for all of those files to upload.  My wife and son kept asking why our Internet connection at home seemed so slow (25Mbs.)  I think Comcast throttles your download/upload speeds if you heavily use your connection.  Once all my tracks were uploaded, I tested Google Music and it worked.  Now what!

Yesterday, I was at a friend's house, partitioning the hard drive on his Mac and installing Windows 7 on the Windows partition.  Then I had an hour of so of fun installing all the Windows software he needed.  What to do while waiting?  I checked mail on Gmail, logged in to Twitter and as well into Facebook.  Yawn.  I then decided to login to Google Music.  There was my music.  And even better, the album I had downloaded from iTunes on Saturday was there.  The Google Music app running on my Mac Mini had seen the new tracks and uploaded them to my Google Music account.  I then clicked on the Album and listened.  Great!

If you'd like an invitation to Google Music, let me know at newbrew@gmail.com.