I wish these were around back when I got my MyTouch a few months back.

After seeing the Clapton commercials for the Fender MyTouch Android phone, I finally got to play with one “in-person” during a recent visit to my local T-Mobile store.

I have to say that even despite the faux vernier (yes, that’s “fake wood”), it’s one good looking phone.

And at least, I guess, the “plastic wood” isn’t much of a fire hazard, as compared to carrying a wooden phone in your pocket.

Even the matching “wooden” ear-buds that come with it look incredible.

And it’s probably good they’re “fake wood.”

Splinters in the ears would be a real bummer.

Overall, it’s the coolest looking phone I’ve ever seen (kudos, T-Mobile).

I can’t wait to see how Apple responds (a Les Paul iPhone would be cool?).

I just wish T-Mobile hadn’t made Clapton goof with that cheesy “guitar app” in the commercial. That really seems to cheapen the offering, but alas.

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In setting up a Ubuntu 9.1 computer for a client, I discovered a frustrating problem with the latest version of this popular Linux distribution.

This client, like many individuals and businesses, wanted to run this machine “headless.” That is, with no mouse, keyboard, or monitor. It’s a popular approach if the machine mainly “does its own thing,” like acting as a dedicated video server, web server, and countless other applications that require infrequent human intervention.

The idea is that the “headless” machine is remote-controlled over the network, in a window on the client (controlling) machine, which can act as the headless computer’s keyboard, mouse, and monitor.

The good news is that it’s really fast, easy, and free to set-up… That is, if you want to see it in really low resolution (800 x 600) on the client machine.

Seems the folks at Ubuntu assumed you couldn’t possibly see high resolution output without a monitor (they didn’t give a lot of thought to headless applications).

It was a real hassle trying to find a fix, and when I did, figured I should document it here, knowing others will hit the same brick wall.

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I have to admit, I’m admiring the turn-by-turn navigation on my Android phone more every day.

I used to have one of those “traditional” GPS units, and it was a pain… I had to subscribe (and pay) to update its database all the time, and it relied on me to know (and enter) the address every time I went anywhere.

Turn-by-turn Navigation on Android is so well integrated into the overall experience, that none of that matters, anymore.

I can speak the name of a client, the App pulls it from my contacts, and I’m off and driving in the blink of an eye.

Better yet, I can speak the name of any business, and it’s loaded with driving instructions before I turn the key.

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Have to admit, I’ve been enamored with the cool GPS products coming from Garmin, Tom-Tom, and the like.

The iPhone held the promise of something similar, but in true Apple fashion, the Mac guys blocked all Google attempts.

So, when Google finally said, “The heck with them all,” and released a (free) turn-by-turn navigation system, I was intrigued.

I have to say , the free Google Navigation System is pretty awesome… The speech-driven, turn-by-turn interpretation is amazing, and the data is “live” (constantly updated via the cloud). Read the rest of this entry »