stuff inside my little mind

I am not a review site, nor do I pretend to be one on TV.  There are scads of Blackberry sites, too.  I actually only use one of them right now, Crackberry.  I was monitoring a bunch of them, but really, it usually filters down to one site that “has it all”.  I did the same for the Dell Mini 9, my Nissan Frontier (nearly defunct now), and pretty much anything I own that I can “mod”.  Hmm, that sounds like another thing to study.

Anyway, I got the Blackberry 8900, as I noted before.  This week, I did a few things that might be helpful to others with the 8900 (or any Blackberry).  Thing #1 – I inserted my original 2gb memory card.  That isn’t much, but I have 14 CDs on it, plus a picture folder.  The plan is to move to a larger card soon.

Thing #2 – I downloaded the latest Blackberry software.  (Look in the Crackberry forums for your latest version!) Now, while upgrades are normally a good thing, I had some trouble with this one.  I found an OS upgrade online.  Now, if you know me, you know that I just can’t have the last version.  I downloaded the latest copy, from Italy no less, and proceeded to use the Blackberry software to load it onto the 8900.  I’ve used this software before, in earlier versions, to upgrade both the 8300, the Pearl 8100, and another model of which I forget the exact number.  Never, never had a problem.  With this software, the upgrade simply blows.  It doesn’t happen.  I reverted to using the loader.exe file in the program files/common/RIM folder.  That worked like a champ, in about 10 minutes.  I have the latest version from RIM available.

Now, if you question why you should use a version from Italy, or Southeast Asia, or anywhere else, keep in mind that the software is the same for all of the Blackberry phones.  English is always available in the languages.  The latest is the latest, whether it comes from your carrier or not.  Upgrading the OS will not change who your phone connects with.  Thank SIMs for that!

Thing #3 – GPS.  I have heard the GPS is a little funky.  Sadly, that seems to be true.  To keep the GPS active, you have to keep the “maps” active, such as using google maps, my preference, or the AT&T paid service maps.  The GPS is used as a place marker in the photos, if you select that option. The info is stored in the file data, extractable by an EXIF reader.  I downloaded EXIFRead, pulls out everything.  I tested a few pictures, and it works pretty well.  I assume this option is available on other Blackberrys with GPS, but it’s new to me.  If you don’t want people finding out where all your valuables are, turn off the location stamp BEFORE you take a picture!

…more to come…