Just saw this on lifehacker:

http://lifehacker.com/399419/turn-off-crash-reports-to-speed-up-iphone-sync

I'm not a big fan of Apple in general, but I totally agree with Joel on the utility of a walled garden.

Firefox's extension repository on Mozilla is a semi-walled garden in that sense. You can host the extensions anywhere you want to, but if you want the visibility of the repository, then you need to go through them. The review process takes about 3-4 days, in my experience. The upside is that it gives the users more confidence about the quality of the extensions.

I am as geeky as the next Linux nerd, but I have to say that the Linux-based mobile platform just isn't there yet. I have been using a Nokia N800 for a while and though it can do a lot of things, it is slow and things don't fit in well. For example, there's a Pidgin port to the Maemo platform, but it's just clunky to use on a device that size and it uses way too much RAM.

I shouldn't be dissing on OpenMoko without first-hand experience but the spit-and-polish required for a mobile platform is much more than a desktop platform. I can live with certain imperfections on my desktop computer running Linux, but I want my phone to Just Work. Here's hoping that OpenMoko gets there.

I'm surprised that you weren't actually arrested for taking a picture. Because, you know, almost anything that you do on the Underground is probably illegal. :-)

I completely agree, Joel. This whole bottled water phenomenon is getting completely out of hand. I heard on the radio today that 1/7th of the amount of money spent by Americans on bottled water is all that is needed to completely eradicate malaria-related deaths in Africa. How's that for a perspective?

Over the last few months, I have read way too many reports/articles that have convinced me that bottled water is a Really Bad (TM) idea, what with its environmental impact, not to mention the financial stupidity. I'm doing my part by not drinking bottled water in any form -- regular or these stupid sports drinks.

As a user of a Nokia N800, I agree with your view completely. I find the N800 useful as a "read-only" device -- checking my email, listening to music, watching an occasional video, etc. Using it for any sort of real typing is another story though. I hate writing emails and IMing on it. I am extremely tempted to get the Eee PC, though I want to wait it out for some competition to build up in that area and get something that is nicer, if not necessarily cheaper.

Hi Guys,

Thanks a lot for the great videos! Just wondering, is it possible for you to support other video formats? Some sort of basic MPEG2 format with an MP3 audio, maybe? I'm one of those people who use a Nokia N800 and that doesn't support MPEG4 yet. A rudimentary, old-fashioned MPEG2 AVI would be great and it would work with most devices.