uninteresting :: rich

how viral is geni? well, after starting our family tree just 3 days ago with 13 people, there are now *174* people in it!

Update: as of Feb 7, my tree is now up to 293 people!

callwave has 2 slick dashboard widgets for mac os x:

free text messaging widget : type in any phone # and instantly send a free text message. it also reads in all the phone numbers from your address book

visual voicemail: one of the most touted new features of the iphone, it’s available now and for free. after a quick setup, your voicemail shows up in the dashboard widget and you can listen to any them just by clicking it.

i wonder if, years from now, some genius who changes the world will say that he got his education from free content on the interent…

Digital MBA: America’s Best Business Schools on Your iPod

Genie is a contagious, easy-to-use online family tree generator. i tried doing something like this on paper for my family a few years back, but it was just a pain in the butt. i hope my family keeps on filling in the gaps.

so, i went a little nuts 6 months ago when the motorola Q came out and bought it sight unseen. it was a pretty disappointing device. a classic example of cell phone dysfunction when 3 big corporations - motorola, microsoft and verizon - “collaborate” on a phone. without going into detail, i’ll just say that it was not a great user experience and i was happy to get rid of it. plus, the cheapest voice+data plan that verizon offers is $85/mo and it just wasn’t worth keeping.

i got a no-frills, thin phone for work - the motorola L2. i hardly use any voice minutes, so this is all i need for basic use.

but there’s one habit i developed on the Q that i can’t live without - reading RSS feeds from the phone. perfect for those little moments on the train, waiting in line, on the can…so i got the tmobile dash. made by HTC (a taiwanese manufacturer that’s turning out what are probably the best smartphones right now), it’s the right form factor and actually pretty similar to the Q, but just much better at all the little things. specifically, it’s much more responsive and doesn’t feel as plastic-ey. and it has wifi, which the Q doesn’t. tmobile doesn’t have a 3g network yet, but their ‘internet only’ plan is perfect for me. $50/mo for unlimited edge network (2.5g) data, 300 text msgs, and free access to tmobile wifi hotspots in borders & starbucks. no included voice minutes (they’re $0.20/min), but i can live with that.

this should tide me over until the iphone hits…