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As the year winds down, I pondered on which gadget purchase was the most useful. I couldn’t help but look down next to me at my Nokia 6260 Smartphone. One of the best purchases I have ever made without looking back. You see I switch cell phones every 2 years, and it’s about that time for my Nokia. I have always been a fan of Nokia, believing that they make the best phones in the world. My first phone was the Nokia 6160 which I dearly loved. It seemed so ahead of it’s time back then with the ring tone customization, phone greeting, phone screen logo and other mods. My next phone was the Sony Ericsson T200, which I can only say was utter crap! Funny thing was I spent over $100 modifying it. My next purchase is the current 6260 Smartphone.

Like the name projects, my 6260 is a phone that is incredibly smart. From it’s sleek design to it’s flip and swivel structure, it is in a league of it’s own. Two years ago while in England, I was looking to buy a new phone. I saw all sorts of phones, but it just seemed a bit too pricey. When I got back to Toronto, I went to a GSM store in the Eaton’s Mall. There I spotted the Nokia 6260, in black…I fell in love. I did not even think twice, and picked it up for 8 bills. Two years later, the phone has lived up to it’s expectation and more, and is still ahead of even some of the phones being released today. Some of it’s features include:

• GSM, Tri-band (I bought it unlocked too)
• 1.2 MP camera
• Infrared AND Bluetooth Connectivitiy (I don’t know how many phones out there have both)
• Audio recording & Video Capture
• VPN Setup, Internet Connection Setup
• 32 MB Mini SD card
• FM Radio, MP3 Player, Real Player
• Word & Powerpoint document viewer
• Voice commands, Push-To-Talk feature
• Dictionary, Games and other crazy tools

I could go on and on about all the features of this phone, and this was over 2 yrs ago. I remember when I first saw the phone, one thing that shocked me was the fact that it didn’t have an external display. I was thinking to myself, how could a modern sleek phone like this not have an external display. Little did I know how smart this phone was. When I get a call, all I need to do is open the phone half way, and I can see the internal display to know who is calling (it snaps into place)…When I then flip it open fully, it automatically answers the call! So I really didn’t need an external display. This will also extend my battery life.

The 6260 also comes with the Nokia PC Suite which I installed on my laptop. This provided so much flexibility in any phone I have used. When I take pictures or record audio/video with my phone, I can easily sync the data into my laptop just by placing my phone next to my laptop. Since my phone has both Infrared and Bluetooth, I can use either connection. My laptop automatically picks up my Phones presence, and I’m done. Likewise I can easily backup my contacts or even my entire phone onto my laptop using the PC Suite tools. Everything was so intuitive and easy. At the end of the day, when I’m bored, I can use the FM Radio….now that’s the lifestyle.

The moral of my story is, my next phone will damn well be a Nokia (eying the N-Series). I don’t know which one yet, but be rest assured it will be top of the line and exclusive as always, unlike the stupid RAZR phones that are all over the place. No offense, but Motorola phones suck, especially the interfaces.

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I am so sick and tired of this crap. Windows Live Mail sucks. I know it is still Beta, but come on….it lags so much, it’s not even funny anymore. You click on anything, and it takes so long to load, even an ordinary right click. Another annoying issue I have with Live Mail is that when it takes too long to load, it gives you an option to use the light version. But at times when I try to click the light version, It still doesn’t work…because Live Mail lags so much it does not register my click to use light version.

GMail is still Beta, but works like it is the final version. The only reason I use Hotmail aka Live Mail is only because I still get mail in it like most people and due to MSN messenger. M$ needs to get it’s act right. Lastly, the other thing that drives me nuts with Live Mail is the “Sent Messages” folder. Every time I send an email, none of them ever go into the “Sent Messages” folder. This is a stupid bug, I can’t even keep track of messages I sent. I’m not too sure how they missed this one. Anyway, Live Mail sucks.

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A while back when I was getting into the whole music production scene, I searched for useful web sites that I could use to sharpen my music theory. I took music classes in my elementary school days, but let’s just say I didn’t pay too much attention nor took it too seriously. Now fast forward to the future, I needed a free resource to refresh my knowledge.

Ricci Adam’s MusicTheory.net is quite an impressive site considering the fact that it’s the work of 1 guy. What makes musictheory.net stand out is the interactivity factor. All the lessons are quite short, yet precise and to the point. Also, every lesson is a flash movie. Not only do you learn, you get the audio and video simulation to go along with it. Since it is flash based, the user can also interact with the media content, by clicking things, answering questions to notes played and so on. Musictheory.net also has a “Trainers” category. These are media content built to train you on certain music basics like notes, keys, intervals, scales, chords and so on. The “Utilities” category is also very useful, with tools like the printable Staff paper generator. The first few music lessons include:

• The Staff Clefs and Ledger lines
• Note Duration
• Measures and Time Signature
• Rest Duration
• Dots & Ties

What makes musictheory.net the more different is that the entire music lesson, trainers and utilities are available offline as well. All you have to do is download the offline version and voila! Since it’s all flash based, all you need is flash player installed on your computer.

Dolmetsch Music Theory Online is another site I have been using. This site is quite vast, and I do mean vast! There are 43 lessons to cover, and each lesson is detailed and contains A LOT of reading. You really need to create time for this site in order to go through the lessons. What makes Dolmetsch stand out is the amount of detail that goes into each lesson. They often relate the content to it’s history and how things emerge. They also like to distinguish between languages in music ie the American English vs. European English for example. Dolmetsch covers most of musicthoery.net and more. Some of the interesting lessons covered include:

• Key Signatures and Accidentals
• Phrasing & Articulation
• Pitch, Temperament & Timbre
• Musical Instrument Fingering Charts
• Musical Instrument Ranges & Names

They also have a lot more resources including Music History and an online Music Dictionary. No matter which site you choose, both are excellent resources for the music learner. The best part is that it’s all free!!

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There have been several food poisoning incidents lately that have sort of scared me. Some of my family and relatives have had food poisoning this holiday season. I also have other friends with food poisoning. It’s just spooky because these incidents were all totally unrelated. So it goes to show, it’s probably due to all the holiday festivities. I know during this holiday season, there is a lot of food going around and things can go wrong. Everyone, please take care this holiday season and enjoy. Happy hloidays!

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This is for Firefox Version 2. I knew about this site since the release of Firefox 2, but would like to share it with anyone who wants to tweak their Firefox. Life Hacker’s Geek to Live: Top Firefox 2 config tweaks is a good writeup on how to tweak Firefox settings using the built in configure tool.

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