Amnesia days in Seattle

When temperatures are in the upper 70s to mid-80s here in Seattle as they were last week, I call them "amnesia days" because they make you forget about the cold, drizzly winter weather we have to slog through. Seattle really is amazing in the summer. You get the payoff for the winter and spring rain because it's so lush here with the super bright green trees, snow covered mountains in the distance, and bright blue water ringing the city (Puget Sound, Lake Union, Lake Washington, not to mention the various rivers and creeks nearby).

I took this picture Sunday from a coffee shop on Capitol Hill where I sat outside, ate a flaky croissant and worked on the computer with their free wi-fi. Bountiful free wi-fi: another reason I love Seattle.

The amazing little heat streak last week which was GREAT. Well, great for people like me who love it hot. For typical Seattleites, any temperature above 68 is considered "sweltering." I have to listen to them grouse in elevators, at bus stops and in meetings about how "unbearable" it is, as they speculate about how soon it'll get back to "normal," meaning 55-65 degrees.

Bleah, I say. When I hear them carping and fanning themselves and carrying on as if they were just plopped down in a parking lot in Phoenix in August, I just want to say, "Hey! Shut your moss-lovin' pie hole!"

Let those of us here who like it a little warmer than the inside of a refrigerator enjoy this all too short period while we've got it. You get 8-9 stinkin' months of what I consider misery to bask in plenty of rain, drizzle, and overcast skies so keep your whining to yourself.

In the middle of December, when I'm rechanneling flood water in the driveway away from the house or helping my husband fill our 15th bag of wet leaves of the day for yard waste pickup, you don't hear me moping about and complaining to anyone within earshot about how "unbearable" and "ridiculously cold and wet" it is.

I just put on another layer (preferably fleece), knit up another colorful scarf, make sure my gloves and hat are at the ready, wipe my snotty nose, and go on about my life, happy to have another healthy day above ground with my faculties intact, regardless of the temperature. You could be living in Iraq or even New Orleans, wondering if you'll get one or four hours of electricity today to run a fan or be able to turn on a light, or cook a meal for your family. So get some perspective and a cool beverage and keep it movin'! Sheesh. Okay. Rant over. Hope you enjoy the temperature in your city today. :-)

Lisbon castle rocks!

No really, it’s made of rocks. Okay, stones technically. But you get the picture.

I'm finally getting back to my German Marshall Fellowship trip recap with this quick entry. Last time we chatted, I was in Lisbon, which has a long, tumultuous, interesting history with documented archeological finds in the city that stretch back to the neolithic era (7000 - 3000 BC). In fact, one of our group meetings there was with a reporter who had done stories about how often construction sites in the city hit ancient ruins as they demolish old buildings and begin new ones. That alone was fascinating given the U.S.'s relatively short history in comparison.

We visited several notable Lisbon locations that warrant mention. First was the Castelo de São Jorge on top of the highest hill in Lisbon. Although the castle dates back to the 10th-11th centuries, the oldest remains there date back to the 6th century BC. In 1147, the first king of Portugal conquered the castle and captured the city from the Moors. At that time, Lsbon was an important Muslim port.

Shyam from Atlanta, Jeff from North Carolina and Carrie from Chicago looking cool outside the castle walls in Lisbon.

Over the next 300 years, the castle played an important role in the life of the city on historic and celebratory occasions. For instance, actors performed the first Portuguese theatrical work there to mark the occasion of the birth of future King Joào III. The castle was declared a national monument in 1910 and it was restored during most of the 20th century.

Portions of the castle still looks as rustic as they did in its heyday, with self-guided tours of the towers, lookout points, former moats and all the nooks and crannies that make ancient stone structures so interesting to see and touch.

Panoramic view from outside the castle

However, the castle has been "enhanced" for modern tastes and expectations and now includes a multimedia exhibition, gallery, a café and restaurant, gift shop, and concession stands. It seemed a little Disney-esque, but still impressive nonetheless.

It's here: the Foleo future of Palm

Okay, I hopped up this morning all psyched to see the future and it turns out the future is already in my tote bag. Here's the deal. Palm founder Jeff Hawkins announced the next generation Palm device is a smartphone companion that is similar to an ultra-portable laptop. It's called the Palm Foleo and it's shown below next to a Treo. Palm announcement site is here. Write up from the D5 conference announcement is here.

I guess it's sorta cool if you don't already have a laptop but I do. And it rocks. See it over there. In fact, it's nearly the same form factor as the "next gen" Foleo and I already carry it with me most everywhere. So as the Engadget site pointed out: "Damned if we need yet another friggin device." Hear, hear.

Almost two years ago, after one too many trips through airports lugging a gigantic, employer-provided laptop that left me with sore arms and and an aching back, I vowed that my next laptop would be the smallest thing out there that I could afford. After much research, I settled on the Sony VGN-TX670P, a 2.8 pound wonder that has stood me in good stead ever since.

In addition to the expected suite of Microsoft productivity programs bundled with it, I've also used it to create mini-movies and slideshows set to music. It's no gaming marvel, but neither am I and that's not what I bought it for. I spend 95% of my time on it doing desktop publishing, text content creation and editing, internet browsing, and e-mail, with picture downloads and edits, and the occasional DVD viewing session thrown in for good measure.

So here's a comparison table I put together of the main highlights of the two machines.

Device	Palm Foleo	Sony TX-670VGN
Screen	10-inch screen	11.1-inch wide-screen display
Weight	2.5 lbs	2.8 pounds (3.5 pounds with AC adapter)
Keyboard	full-size keyboard	Considered smallish/cramped (but I like it fine)
OS	Linux	Windows XP
Word, Excel, Powerpoint, PDF	Create, edit Word and Excel docs, view but not edit PPT. PDF viewer	Full versions of each program included
Email	Can read, create, edit using VersaMail or Outlook Mobile. Future iteration of the device will allow e-mail over Wi-Fi to do e-mail	Outlook, webmail
Web connectivity	no built-in network connectivity, but relies on its host smartphone to connect via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi	Cellular, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi
Boot up	Instant on	Several minutes
Battery life	Five+ hours of use	6.6 hours in drain test by ZDNet.com
Other	USB port, video-out port, headphone jack, and slots for SD and compact flash cards for memory expansion	DVD/CD player/burner, 60GB Hard drive, two USB 2.0 ports, four-pin FireWire, VGA video out port, PCI Express card slot, headphone jack, Sony Memory stick slot, SD card slot
Price	$499, after an introductory $100 rebate.	$2,100 almost two years ago

Although the laptop cost more, I also get more, can connect to the VPN at work, and do lots of other tasks with the numerous programs that are already installed. And, if needed, I can also connect my phone to it and use the unlimited data plan I already have on my Treo to connect to the internet, which is essentially what the Foleo does. So consider me completely underwhelmed by the Foleo. For me, it feels so...2005.

Big Treo announcement tomorrow

I use a Palm Treo 650 phone/PDA for just about everything: phone, e-mail, mo-blogging (mobile blogging), writing and editing documents with a foldout keyboard like the one on the left, web surfing, getting driving directions, listening to MP3s, and more. In a word: power user.

So you may be able to understand my excitement to learn that Palm's founder Jeff Hawkins is planning a big announcement tomorrow at the D5 conference organized by Walt Mossberg and Kira Swisher of the Wall Street Journal. Info about the Palm announcement is available on the CNET blog Crave.

I've been with the Palm operating system since they were used in Handspring PDAs. I even had the goofy first generation Handspring Visorphone attachment that slid into the back of the unit and made the already-chunky device bulkier than a Maxwell Smart shoe phone, for those of you old enough to remember that mid-1960s comedy about a hapless spy with wacky gadgets. I didn't care: I was a convert and I evangelized the device to everyone I knew, eventually convincing at least two co-workers in my newsroom then to jump on the Handspring bandwagon.

Seven years and multiple devices later for this early adopter, I'm itching to up upgrade again. But I don't want one of Palm's newer offerings with Windows Mobile OS. I want to stick with the Palm OS because of all the third party software that's available for the devices. So I sit. And lust after smaller, cooler, smartphones from Japan with smaller bodies but bigger screens (think supermodels of the PDA set), faster connections, wi-fi, and more, and consider switching. But I can't!

I've waited this long. Guess I'll cool my jets and see what tomorrow brings. Some rumors say Palm will roll out a Linux OS that's been in the works. Others says it'll be an iPhone killer, which is surprising, since the iPhones have barely hit the market yet. But Palm and Hawkins have revolutionized the industry before, so I'm not alone in my eagerness. We shall see if the actual announcement lives up to the hype.

My pregnancy FAQs

Since I've been pregnant, it's been great hearing all the well-wishes from folks. I have yet to hear any negative comments, as in, "Expecting? Wow. Good luck with that. I wouldn't trade places with you for all the money in the world."

But I do get the same few questions from almost everyone. So they seem ready-made for an FAQ.

• Are you excited? yes very, especially Jason and my folks


• How are you feeling? I feel great and have since the beginning, except for sleepiness in months 2-4.


• Any morning sickness? Not a drop of morning sickness, which was awesome during my three week fellowship to Europe. I ate my way through each country and had no qualms about trying local delicacies. In fact, my travel mates were a bit amazed. I blogged about it a bit here.


• Do you know what you're having? We're having a girl, so the deluge of pink clothes has already begun. I may offer a prize to the first person who gives me a non-pink article of clothing for the baby. :-)

Given these questions, I loved this cartoon from website Baby-Gaga.com. I wonder if www.cafepress.com has this t-shirt yet. :-)