Happy B-day to me!

Yes, the title of this post conveniently matches what someone might google for.

So I recently upgraded to the Sidekick 3. I love it — Slimmer size, trackball, 1.3M Camera, real buttons, etc. I have been using the Sidekick device since the very first version a few years ago. Having ~full~ mobile internet access is incredibly empowering.

But upgrading is not without a hidden cost! If you upgrade from a Sidekick 2, and purchased software through the online catalog, that software is not transferred to the Sidekick 3! yes, that’s right. You bought software for your phone. You upgrade your phone. You lose your software.

I sent a flaming email to Danger. They responded kindly and told me that the software is compatible to specific hardware/software platforms. WHAT?!?! Why is this my problem? Haven’t you heard of writing backward compatibility bridges/APIs for significant OS upgrades? Ever heard of “emulators”? Ok, an emulator sounds a bit too much to ask for… but jeez, you have an entire customer-base purchasing software, and you pull the rug out under them by no longer supporting the software! Complete Bull#@%% in my opinion. I’m NOT happy. Not to mention that I found this out -after- spending $300 on the new phone.

BTW - TMobile said Danger would handle any refunds. And Danger said TMobile would. Yeah. The Customer clearly comes first.

Here’s an interesting software philosophy that tries to put a hard limit on manageable code. Is more than 10,000 lines of code too much to manage? Is the “Keep It Simple Stupid” principle taken a bit too far?

While they happen to be the authors of the best X11 Window Manager on Earth, I may not subscribe to their philosophy. Manageability of large applications can be achieved with a solid architecture, good set of development tools, and an open communication policy between the programmers. It’s all about having the right resources to scale. Does that mean that any application over 10K is not well written or optimized? No. It simply means that lines of code shouldn’t be the determining factor for when you should stop coding. That’s my opinion.

After 13 years, I finally decided to purchase a new mountain bike. After two years of on-and-off research and test rides, I bought a Cannondale Prophet 800 (specs / full pic). For a contemporary full-suspension bike targeted to the techno-junkies on a reasonable budget, the Prophet 800 got rave reviews and most importantly, rode smoothly and “fit” me well. Besides, the “lefty” fork is so freaking high tech!

It was surprisingly hard to find a Cannondale dealer nearby with decent floor stock. After talking with a few local bike shop owners, it turns out that the Santa Cruz brand of bicycles is dominating the local market (also sold int’l). While Santa Cruz bikes test ride extremely well and look great, they are simply priced way too high for the “general public”. The base models with a complete package start around $2000. But any enthusiast who knows what the want can easily fall in the $3K - 4K range… it’s simply too much for anyone on a budge. That being said, Amy and I drove to Mikes Bikes in Palo Alto. I managed to negiotiate $350 off the price! I didn’t buy my new truck at full price, and I wasn’t about to buy my new bike at sticker either. I don’t mind helping the sales agent put food on the table, but I’m definitely not paying to take his/her kids to Disney!

Off for a ride…