SMS grows up .. to be a Pink Dot?

My shiny new Kyocera phone includes a GPS [Global Positioning System] feature; I wasn't aware that the phones themselves had to change, for things like E911 to work. Does this mean that older phones can't play in the E911 world? There's a setting where I can disable GPS from my provider's eyes, but not the nice folks at Emergency Services. Hmm. We could have used a GPS to get out of Deep Ellum last night (more on that later).

In the I Didn't Get The Memo category: I'm happy to see that Text Messaging (aka TM, aka SMS - Short Message Service) on cellphones has grown up. In the Old Days (2 years ago?) I had to know which carrier my friend was on, before I could send a TM, and it had to be formatted as number@some-specific-domain.com ... now, I just enter [Send Text] and their cellphone number ... and Magic Happens to route the call to the right network. This may only be on my sophisticated phone; Your Mileage May Vary.

One downside to the Virgin Mobile service is that my two Yahoo! Alerts (weather forecast, and a stock quote) don't work. What's so hard about sending a TM to an email address that I provide? In my case, Virgin Mobile has a well known format: number@vmobl.com .. but Yahoo! Alerts work only under AT&T Wireless; Cingular; Nextel; Sprint; T-Mobile or Verizon. I temporarily disabled those alerts, while Yahoo! gets their act together. This could take years.

The Quest Continues
While at the grocery, I picked up a package of Sun-Maid Sliced Cantaloupe. This is part of my quest to Try Something New every time I grocery shop.

Cosmic Editing
Trish-Bob learned quickly how to instruct others in the use of her shiny new digicam, during our Night On The Town with Jill-Bob:

Savvy blog readers might note the similarity between this photo, and one on Trish-Bob's blog. It's as if Gene-Bob never existed! The photo was taken by one of the roving staffmembers at the Gypsy Tea Room, where the Legendary Pink Dots performed to a stoned out sold out diverse audience. We had a good time, and really enjoyed the ERET [Extended Real Estate Tour] after the concert. Thanks, TB!

Also, before I forget ... the (admittedly low-tech) flashlight built into my new cellphone came in handy last night, as I tried to find the keyslot for my front door. Guffaw if you must, but I predict that future that all future mobile phones will include GPS chips, flashlights and perhaps even (hold onto your hats) digital cameras. Yeah, I know .. I'm quite the futurist.

GoogL'ost: GenCorp