Connected, sort of.

[catsittingstill]

For the first time in my life, I am now the proud (if somewhat disconcerted) possessor of a cell phone.

I got one of the kind where you buy the phone and buy the minutes to put on it.  So if I don't like it I just put it in a dark box for ninety days and it quits being an issue--I'm out fifty dollars but at least I have no ongoing committment.  Yes, ninety days--I opted for the phone that had the minutes that lasted ninety days instead of thirty because thirty is just a racket, even if the ninety day minutes cost a bit more.

I'm not telling you what the number is, though I do know it.  No offense, but posting it on the web would just be stupid; I'm sure there are spiders that crawl around the web looking for defenseless phone numbers and pouncing on them and paralyzing them with one bite and then wrapping them up in silk for later and maybe even laying their eggs... Okay that metaphor got a bit out of hand.  Quick, stamp on it before the eggs hatch.

But I'm not planning on using it much. 

However I'm having the kitchen remodeled (the whole "bad back plus a kitchen designed for someone eight inches shorter than I am" thing) and I'm worried that the bloke delivering, say, the sink, will call me to see if I'm home and I'll be in the back yard turning the compost heap and won't hear the land line, and he'll say to himself "blast!  Well, I guess I'll deliver this toilet to Knoxville then.  She'll have to call and reschedule; it's her own fault for not keeping her phone on her."

So now I have a phone I *can* keep on me.

I asked Franklin, the nice fellow at the desk, to set it up for me.  Because I've heard they're hard to set up.  Franklin claims it's easy, but he also claims to have set up dozens.  Lots of things are easy once you've done them a couple of dozen times.

I called Kip at home from the parking lot to make sure it worked, and had him call me back to make sure it could receive.  Since it had only gotten its phone number a few minutes before, that seemed like a sensible precaution.  It worked fine, both ways, though the sound quality is nothing to write home about.

Now I keep playing with it and finding other things about it.

For instance it charges from a micro USB plug, with an adapter that plugs into a regular outlet.  I wonder what would happen if I plugged it into my computer?  I may investigate it later. 

It can download ringtones (I told it to back out of that in a hurry--ringtones cost money, in the form of minutes, and I don't want to gussy up this phone with lots of stuff anyway) and pictures (ditto, except I'm not sure about the pictures costing money).  It can *take* pictures but I haven't figured out what it can do with them besides e-mail them to people, which I haven't dared mess with yet because I want to figure out how much it costs first. 

It can send text messages (despite not having a qwerty keyboard--it uses the number keys and you press the one with the letter you want, as many times as the letter is down the queue--like "2" is "abc" so for "c" you press "2" three times fast).  I haven't tried actually using it but the principle seems clear and a text costs a third of a minute and a minute is the shortest phone call you can make, so if you can sort something out in three texts you've come out ahead.  Since it costs minutes to receive phone calls as well as send them, it probably costs to receive texts as well as send them but I haven't checked.

It can accept headphones (I'm not sure how that works yet) or bluetooth headphones (*really* not sure how that works but it could be handy if I ever get that into cell phones).

I did get my voice mail set up but it cost me five minutes.  The password part really threw me for a loop and I had to quit and think up a password and try again from the beginning.

It can theoretically take voice memos.  I'm not sure if that costs minutes or not.  It has a phonebook, presumably for storing numbers you call a lot.  It can theoretically surf the web but if I tried that those 120 minutes (110 now) would be gone in a flash so I haven't tried.

It can vibrate instead of ringing; I didn't figure this out until I was deep in the menus.  So I set it to vibrate, *then* ring to be on the safe side.  You can also set it to be silent; I guess that's what you're supposed to do at the movies or at a play.  I will have to remember to actually *do* it..

I feel so connected, but it's an illusion at the moment because I haven't even given the contractor my new phone number yet (I have several calls to make (from my land line) tomorrow morning, though.)

Does anybody know if texting has a character limit?

Comments

[randwolf]

160 characters for texting, but some phones will split a longer message into segments. Transmitting an image is usually expensive.

Useful facts: the average telephone conversation is three minutes. Voice mail is offered so that more calls can be completed and more minutes charged. Voice memos only cost if they go over the network. The phonebook is also used to identify incoming callers. Caller ID is by default on in cell phone networks. Text messages are also useful because they do not demand immediate attention, unlike a call.

Generally cell phones will talk to a computer via USB, but usually the cable and the software are an extra-cost item, typically around $50 or so. Only some phones will talk to Macs. Bluetooth may work better.

[catsittingstill]

Thanks for the info :-)

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

Texting is 160 characters. and yes it will cost to receive. A lot of states required headphones when talking while driving; WA does, I know. Corded headphones are dead easy; just plug'em in. The trick is whether your phone takes a standard 2.5mm plug, an older Nokia plug (which has more contacts on it), or one of those oddball things... I *hope* it takes a standard plug; those are easy to find.

Highly, highly recommend one of the big, seemingly bulky over-the-head setups with the flexible boom mike. With the mike actually close to your mouth you get much more of the sibilants and such going outbound and thus you're MUCH more understandable. I ♥ my Panasonic. It's ancient, it's tough, and it *works*.

I set mine to vibrate during "quiet" events; when I'm sitting down, the seat and/or table mask what little noise there is, but I know for sure my phone is active. Even on the motorcycle, with my little Virgin Mobile Flare, which has quite the shaker in it. (Work's Crackberry, not so much.)

My question about minutes vs. expiration is, what is your minimum cost per month? (Mine's $20 to keep the minutes rolling over, plus I tack on an extra $5/mo to get enough text messages (200) that I don't have to worry about them.) (Some folks text like mad; I'm not nearly that bad. Even with the T9Word predictive text thingy that makes it LOTS easier to type a message.)

Oh. Plugging micro-USB into computer? You may need a special driver. I know the Blackberry needs one to raise the line amperage to enough to handle charging. Or your phone may be smart enough to ask the computer to do it for you without anything fancy? Dunno. You can't hurt anything by trying; you might get error pop-ups, but those will pretty well tell you what to do, if anything.

If your phone has an SD card (my Flare doesn't, my Blackberry does), you can potentially download new ringtones to it or wallpaper or such. Or you *might* be able to mount the phone as a drive on your computer, and crossload directly. One would have to read the fine manual.... :)

I could totally see you slicing off 30 seconds of either something you did or perhaps a Peter Alway piece or something and using it for a ringtone... :) The real trick is to get something that will punch through the hubub of a busy store or whathaveyou... but not be embarrassing into the bargain. Somebody I know had the Star Trek TOS Red Alert sound for a ringtone; that was a bit much. :)

Have fun with it!

[tollermom]

Two of my ringtones are Seanan's "Fly Little Birds" and the opening "braaaaains!" from Tom Smith's "Undead Happy Trees" (the latter is also my alarm for getting up and going to work). Ringtones are _much_ more fun when they're people you know. :-)

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

The trick is whether your phone takes a standard 2.5mm plug, an older Nokia plug (which has more contacts on it), or one of those oddball things... I *hope* it takes a standard plug; those are easy to find.

The phone itself appears to be a Motorola. Does that affect the statistical space of the plug type? (make it more likely to be a standard plug?)

My question about minutes vs. expiration is, what is your minimum cost per month? Mine's 20$ every 3 months, but that's only 60 minutes (becomes 120 because I got the slightly more pricey phone that doubles the minutes) so I don't know if in practice I will tend to use more than that.

If I can figure out a way to download a noise I like from my computer for a ringtone I might do that, but I'll have to work out how. The fine manual, as you note, may have more info or perhaps I could find it online. But a plain vanilla phone ring is okay too, so that's not high priority. Though really, a piece of an instrumental would be ideal. Or perhaps just me saying "Hey Cat, someone wants you. Answer, or ignore?" Or "Phone Call!" in four part harmony...

Hmmm. But that could be embarrassing. Maybe a generic ring is better--then I could just look accusingly at whoever happens to be standing to my left.

I wonder if I could tie particular rings to particular phone numbers?

The phone itself doesn't seem to have an SD card slot. It must have some sort of memory inside, of course, or it couldn't store phone numbers (let alone pictures).

I can totally see how great an iPhone could be. If I could put my Touch and my phone together... But that way lies big hurking contractual obligations I don't want to face, so separate it is.

[mdlbear]

We got our first cell phone when our house was being fumigated and I had to be reachable. They're incredibly useful at conventions, especially when there are a large number of people to be wrangled.

Unlimited text is particularly useful when you have teenagers.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Good point about cons. Though the last time I tried to reach someone at a con, their number counted as long-distance (I was calling from a pay phone) even though they were within a quarter mile of me!

But hopefully everyone who would want to call me at a con would have a cell phone too and I guess long distance doesn't matter much to cell phones.

I can see how unlimited text would be useful with teenagers, yes :-)

[howeird]

Most Motorola phones use a smaller than standard plug. I found okay chargers online for much less $$ than Moto or the phone company.

I'm not a huge cell phone user, it may ring twice a week. It's good when you're at a con, and it's good to have it in the car in case of emergencies.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

I have a charger for in the house; it came with the phone. I'm thinking about the advisability of getting a charger for in the car. But I don't expect to use it much and it's supposed to stay charged on standby for 18 days or so so maybe it's not necessary.

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

I first got a cellphone when I was pregnant with my firstborn and my husband was working in varying locations ranging from Louisville to Cincinnati. My parents bought us both cellphones so that if I went into labor when he wasn't there, I could tell him to get his tail back home. After that, we got rid of them for a while, but eventually decided that not being reachable when one had children who were sometimes in somebody else's care was irresponsible. Yes, hundreds of generations have done so and (at least some of) their kids have grown up safely, but if we have the ability to be within reach in an emergency, might as well use it.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

I have periodically contemplated a cell phone for things like car breakdowns. Up to this point my resistance to having a choke chain that can be yanked from a distance has overcome my interest in being able to call out or be reached myself. But then, I'm not responsible for kids the way you are, so I can see why you opted for the cell phone.

[aunty_marion]

May not be a lot of help here, as in the UK we don't get charged to receive calls... *g* but usually, I think most phones these days will let you set up different ringtones for either individual people or subsets of your phone list. I haven't bothered - my ringtone on my old phone was the Star Trek theme-tune fanfare, but it was too quiet on the current one, so I have the Harry Potter theme tune instead, for everything. Texts just give a double ring like a doctor's beeper. I set it to vibrate only in cinemas/meetings.

Bluetooth, if it has it, is great for hands-free calling in the car. I have a Bluetooth thing that clips onto my sun visor - you need the phone to make calls, but I have a policy of not doing that in the car anyway; but for receiving calls, there's a button to press to accept it, then you just talk. You can get Bluetooth earpieces as well, and I did have one originally with the phone - they incorporate a mike, so the phone can sit in your pocket/bag - but my ears are the wrong shape for in-ear things.

It really is worth sitting down with the manual and, if necessary, using up a few minutes of phone time, to get things set up. Work out what numbers you might need - emergency/911, automobile help, Kip, parents/relatives, etc - and put them into the phonebook on it, with names as well as numbers (the name should then come up on the display). If it has the T9 predictive text, set that to on and learn how to use it - it's usually a lot faster than pressing each key two or three (or four...) times; learn how to switch from T9 to standard text to numbers, as well (on mine, there's a key that makes it cycle through the options). Learn how to LOCK the keypad so it doesn't try and dial numbers from inside your pocket! (And how to unlock it, too, of course.)

If it takes pictures, check the manual again - chances are that it has software that will let you connect it to your computer and download pictures from the phone to the computer. (You can then delete them from the phone, to save memory space - again, check the manual.) For that it will use the lead with the micro-USB plug, probably. Mine has a standard USB plug that plugs into a standard power plug or into the computer - I can charge it in the car using a cigarette-lighter-socket USB adapter, too.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

If I'm reading the manual right, I may be able to set it to vibrate just by pressing a single button instead of by messing with a lot of menus. But I will need to test it--probably by dialing its number from my landline and then hanging up before I answer, so as not to use up my minutes :-)

The bluetooth thing sounds like it might be a good idea if I end up using the phone much. Right now the plan is to use it for emergencies or for things like letting the delivery people still reach me when I am in the back yard, so they won't think I am not home. (Or letting me lie my head off, and then *get* home before they come.)

The manual didn't say anything about T9 predictive text, but I will look again, and look online.

I don't expect to have a problem with the phone trying to dial itself in my pocket because it's one of the folding ones, so the keyboard is hidden away when it's folded and in my pocket.

I will check the manual again about the pictures. I'm beginning to think it's more a quick start guide than a manual, really, and perhaps I will have to find all this stuff online...

Come to think of it, since it has bluetooth in addition to the usb micro plug, I wonder if it can talk to the computer by bluetooth?

[occams_pyramid]

"It has a phonebook, presumably for storing numbers you call a lot."
The other advantage of that is that when someone in your phonebook calls you, it displays their name even before you answer.
I can't help with most of the rest though - the charging for mobiles is *totally* different in the UK.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I had been planning on not bothering to enter numbers I know well, but maybe it would be handy to see at a glance who is calling.

Fear not about the charging; I have a charger. I may get a different one, to charge with in the car, or maybe not I haven't decided.

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

Ringtones: On the trolley I hear my model's default ringtone a lot, from different pockets/purses/hands... I browsed the limited set of free options that came with mine and chose one that I could stomach that was not the default.

Texting: Beware the delay required for two successive characters on the same key. F'rex, "federal" requires
333 -- 33 -- 3 -- 33 -- 777 -- 2 -- 5 :

F 333
E 33
D 3
E 33
R 777
A 2
L 5

If you don't pause long enough between the first four letters you'll get hash. But you can also* press the right-hand edge of the five-way directional button (east pole?), which means "advance to the right".
333 → 33 → 3 → 33 777 2 5

Note on correcting txting: left-hand edge* is "move left", vs. CLEAR which is "erase this character".

You may also be able to switch between Abc and Word mode of texting. When I don't expect to get near the length limit I use word mode. The word prediction is fairly good, and when 666 produces "non" instead of "mom" I press zero to cycle through the options.

*(on mine, anyway)

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

I found out I can set a particular ringtone for particular individuals in my phonebook. That was amusing enough that I cycled through all the ringtones; some of them are quite obnoxious. Not, like, unpleasant to listen to, but I feel like they would draw a lot of attention to me if they went off in my pocket. My present choice is the default ringing phone, but I may pick something else in the long term--especially if I can figure out how to load my own recordings onto the phone.

You know, I just had a thought; a loon call would be a great ringtone. It might be worth drawing attention to myself to have such a great ringtone.

I have a 5 way directional button, but I don't have a "clear" button so I'm not sure my phone will work quite the way yours does. There doesn't seem to be any charge to compose texts, just to send them, so I could experiment a bit, I suppose.

I didn't see anything in the manual about having a "word" mode of texting--but then figuring out how to get the different letters was kind of a random guess anyway. I will look again, and maybe look online.

[sffilk.livejournal.com]

I had bought a phone I could use around the world (and still have the "pay as you go" phone from T-Mobile for which I buy 1000 minutes a year for $100). Well, I decided to try my world phone as my "pay as you go" phone). For a ringtone, since the phone can connect into my computer, I took a Celtic song and set that up (Capercaillie's "Islay Ranter Reels"). I had some help from T-Mobile installing some T-Mobile stuff onto the phone so I can use more T-Mobile features. All I needed to do is put the SIM card from my T-Mobile exclusive phone into my world phone and it all works (except I can't always hear the ring tone in a noisy restaurant). When I travel out of the country, I can put a SIM card from the country I go to into the phone and it becomes a phone for that country (except Japan, which uses a whole different cell phone technology). That makes it end up costing less if I go out of the country again. In addition, I also got a jack that will allow me to recharge the phone off an emergency band radio I got (as a result of a massive power outage here in Atlanta several months back).

Since the phone connects to the computer, I am able to update the software which runs it. I also put additional memory into the phone so I can do more with it (though I'm not right now).

I don't like receiving text messages, and with the exception of the one to activate the dreaded Facebook account, I've not received any in a good long time. I tell people I don't have a cell phone and that they should call my land line and leave me a message there.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

I like the idea of a phone you can use worldwide, but in my case I hardly ever get out of the States so it doesn't matter much.

I read through the manual last night and it didn't say anything about connecting to my computer but it stands to reason that it must be possible or they wouldn't charge through a micro USB they'd use a pin like everybody else. So I will go forth and google a bit and see if I can come up with any info on it.

Being able to recharge the phone off the hand crank radio would be good. I wonder if I can do that with mine.

[min0taur.livejournal.com]

I've been carrying a cellphone like a six-shooter since about the late '90s, but I can still relate to the strangeness of it. Telephony is vastly different these days, and many cellulars are too damn small for my hands, so I keep losing 'em and overdeveloping my worst vocabulary. ;-)

I comfort myself with the notion that at least it's an everyday application of space technology, and ya can't have too many of those, Pilgrim.

My sibs and I started using cellphones mainly to cover practical emergencies on the road, and to stay in touch readily across state lines (we're all over the place) while dealing with parental illnesses and transitions. The technology has been excellent for that. But I do miss having a nice landline handset nestling into my big paw; my favorite was the type used in the office-model dial phone designed in 1949 and the AT&T/Ma Bell standard for the rest of the twentieth. Wonder if there's such a thing as technostalgia. ;-)

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Wonder if there's such a thing as technostalgia. ;-)

Sure there is. There are people who swear by particular typewriters that haven't been made for twenty five years, or particular computer keyboards that haven't been made for ten or fifteen.

For ages I had a phone like the one you're describing, with the big chunky plastic handset with the bulbs for the earphone and the mouthpiece, the kind that was big enough to trap between my shoulder and my ear if I needed to write something down.

I still have it as a backup, actually, but the cordless phone I have now lets me pace better. However I've had zero trouble with misplacing it because decades of having to put the handset back on the phone to hang up means that I automatically put the cordless back in its cradle when I'm done, even if I have to walk the length of the house to do it. Because that's just what you *do* when you finish a call.

Still it's an odd feeling for me, to drive around with a phone in my pocket. I could call anyone. Right from the car, even (though not if I'm driving.) Weird.

And I like the idea of it being an everyday application of space technology :-). Certainly it would have seemed pretty space-age to me back when the moon landing happened, if someone had told me that someday I would have a radiophone like Dick Tracy's only not strapped to my wrist. :-)

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

Of course there is. Consider Steampunk.

[infobits.livejournal.com]

I got my cell; because I drive animal rescue transports and needed to be able to call for help and to update the transport coordinator of the runs progress. It has been quite useful for that.

I've given up my land line to save some money.
I figured callers wanted me, not the answering machine at the condo.
And I don't get many phone calls.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Fair enough.

Giving up the landline wouldn't work in our particular case, as my husband doesn't want a cell phone. He doesn't mind me having one--he just doesn't want one himself.

I don't get many calls either--but when I do, I can end up chatting for hours; fine on a landline but not on a cell phone where every minute (or part of a minute, darn it) counts.

Plus for years we were on dialup and there's no way that would work with a pay as you go cell phone. But now we have DSL--which, come to think of it, comes with our landline.

So nope, *so* not giving up the landline.

But I'm glad cell-only works for you.

[mbumby.livejournal.com]

If you'll consider using it while you drive (like to get directions if you get lost, or if you are expecting an important call but NEED to go out), I would recommend buying a bluetooth earpiece. They are ridiculously expensive if you shop in computer stores, but a couple of times now I've bought a "2-for-Tuesday" from Woot -- 2 blueteeth for $5 + $5 S&H I think it was. Quite worth it. My current phone is the first that did that. Before that I'd be getting tangled in my corded headset, getting it tangled in mys seatbelt, and replacing it regularly as the wires were fragile.

Tall person's kitchen

[patternbuilder.livejournal.com]

hooray on raising your counters. I did it years ago in another house and still miss it. 3 inches made a huge difference.
Enjoy.

Re: Tall person's kitchen

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

:-) I'm raising mine five and a half :-) I'm really looking forward to it. I'm also having undercabinet lighting put in; even with the counter ripped out and the walls all pocky from having the cabinets raised it makes the kitchen *so* much more cheerful.