Big Nerd Ranch

I'm hoppin' a plane tomorrow for Atlanta. It always seems a little weird flying on Friday the 13th, but I seem to end up doing it with regularity.

I'm attending an Objective C/Cocoa Bootcamp at Big Nerd Ranch. I've been told by many that I'm already a big nerd and shouldn't bother with the class. Oh well.

The class is a bonus...I'm allowing it to myself as a reward and to keep my development skills growing. The Objective C portion of the class should strengthen my anemic C skills enough to improve at C based business functions in JDE as well as Qt-based OpenMFG.

The class is 7 straight days, so I should be thoroughly fried by the time I get home.

Treo - does it have to be this painful?

Yesterday my Treo 700P turned itself into a brick. Things started simply enough. The screen wouldn't respond, so I did a quick soft reset. The soft reset thru the device into the flashing loop. I did notice that the all-to-familiar loop was missing the screen with the Palm logo but initially didn't think much about it. I managed to do a hard reset, but to no avail. It turns out that this is an unbreakable loop and my device is evidently worthless at this point. Verizon then proceded to waste most of my day and seemingly push me directly to the Apple Store and a new iPhone. I started playing with the idea of dropping data off my phone and using the iPhone for all the data related activities and some occasional phone calls. This sounds crazy, but the fact is, AT&T just isn't an option for our company. We save a great deal of money using the IN network on VZW. I know that AT&T has mobile-to-mobile, but the lacking coverage and slow data network just don't cut it. In the process of coping with my dead Treo, I switched things over to an older Motorola 815 so I'd be back in touch. Imagine my surprise, I'd forgotten how much better the reception was with the 815. I can actually talk on my phone in my house. No more running outside to have a conference call.

I'm getting a new 700P sent to me, although I'm not sure if I want to use it. When they switched me back to the 815 they automatically dropped all the EVDO/data capabilities from my number. Hmmm...now saving at least $49/month. That base iPhone plan with unlimited data is only $59/month.

Stay tuned...