kerimsatirli.com

A couple of months ago, I woke up to a a world of hurt: a bad cough and a busted graphics in an aging laptop.

Having faced an identical busted graphics card problem about a year before, too, I knew that repairing my rig would cost me approximately $1,200 to $1,500, depending on the availability of the items that are needed and the amount of man hours required to replace the parts.

While my Toshiba Tecra M4 has served me very well, I am not crazy enough about it to invest such a sum into a device that is 2.5 years old and quite honestly: who would, besides NASA.

The downside of my decision is that I have been laptop-less for close to six months now and since my Tablet PC acted as my primary computing platform, I am actually finding myself in a position where I get less work done in more time, simply due to the lack of adequate processing power.

Before I set out on my trip to the US, I was eying a couple of devices, such as the Asus EEE PC and even though I do not consider myself a geek, just being able to say that I built a web application with the help of the hottest sub notebook currently available, would have been a fun idea.

From a prosumer point of view, however, the EEE PC is definitely not able to cater for all my wishes and as such would not have been much than a secondary backup, computer as opposed to being my (primary) weapon of choice and as such, the hunt for new hardware continued.

Every few years in my computer life, I come to a point, call it a crossroads if you wish; a point where I decide to (radically) alter the way I go about doing things and go in directions I have not gone before, mostly in an effort to make my computing experience more pleasurable, but also: more efficient.

Seven years ago, this meant going the Pocket PC route and I have not regretted this one bit. Five years ago, it meant foraying down the Symbian Smartphone route, then back to Pocket PCs again.

This, eventually, lead to flirting with a Windows Mobile Smartphone, which worked well, due to its form-factor, but essentially changed my mobile computing habits from “creating” to “reading”, in other words: my productivity dropped, so back to Pocket PCs it was, once again.

During that period, I also ventured into the area of Tablet PCs, a technology that appeared interesting to me on a number of levels, mostly due to the fact that it altered the way I would be using my device henceforth.

After having used a Tablet PC for 2.5 years and having followed the scene since literally Day One, I can, wholeheartedly say that I did my best to accept it, love it and not hate it, but it just did not work out the way I hoped it would.

The applications that were killer and hot two years ago, are still the same ones that are hot today because, all in all, the Tablet PC ecosystem has not nearly seen as much influx as everyone predicted.

Their impact on the market is, still, negligible at best: Tablets are used by medical professionals and a few other niche areas, but for me, there is no future in this platform and as such, the hunt for new hardware continued, once again.

I knew that my next device, like my aging Tablet PC, would have to be a true Desktop replacement, because switching devices AND keeping them in sync all the time gets annoying really quick.

Another thing I require from my device is that it just works, in the sense that I do not have to install extra software when I hook up a projector, or, even worse: reinstall my whole operating system, because neither the built-in display adapter nor the external display provide me with any (visual) feedback whatsoever.

Naturally, just having a device that works is not all I want, I also wanted to try something new, venture into, for me, uncharted territory, so to speak. The last time around, this ended up being a Tablet PC, which basically was just an extension to the current operating system I was using at the time, this time around, I am inclined to switch operating systems too.

All in all, and more importantly, to bring this story an end, I have decided, that the best I could make is Apple’s new MacBook Pro and I am looking forward to, as one friend called it, experience that working with your computer can actually be fun.

Of course, while I made the decision on my own, I feel that there are two people I should thank, for putting up with my geekness during this trying time:

First and foremost, my biggest thanks go out to Nate Nelson who helped me put together my order, helped me change it, helped me order more stuff and even got me some nice extras to play with, thanks bro’!

Secondly, Kevin Pilasky for devoting the last three plus years of his life to make me consider and try out the OS X platform and finally have the guts to move to, and I quote: the system that will work for you!

* for the Apple fanboys who scuff at the mention of “New Soul” in combination with a MacBook Pro, I am sorry, I know the song is meant to be used for the MacBook Air, but it was just too tempting.

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s post about what Treasuremytext is all about and also the announcement of me joining their Board of Advisors, is this visual treat for everybody who loves to tag random things in public … like I did.

During the Software Social Summer BBQ, back in May, I was able to snag a few I ♥ SMS stickers and I decided that, the best way to expose New York City to Treasuremytext, would be by putting some of their stickers in more or less visible locations, such as trains, post boxes, abandoned cars and the likes.

Even though some may call this pointless, I definitely had my fun and, so far, had three people approach me about the sticker and what the message was all about.

In case you want to see even more tagged areas, head on over to my gallery!

And if you have come this far and still have no idea what Treasuremytext is all about, I suggest you have a look at the following clip.

Many of my friends, at least those whose cellphone numbers I have, know that I am an avid texter. I am, so to speak, a master of the arcane skill of speaking volumes with less than 161 characters and as such, I generate quite a bit of SMS traffic every month.

Ever so often, a short message turns into a good conversation and being a true gatherer, I like to save these messages to read through them again at a later point and chuckle about the past.

Up until a few months ago, I used to store all my messages on my Pocket PC and that started filling up my device pretty quickly; in fact, from July 2007 to July 2008, I have sent and received some 1800 text messages, with a fair number of collectible messages.

Back in 2006, during the first The Next Web conference, I came across Katie Lips and Paul Stringer, from Treasuremytext, a service that would let you save your messages online.

To be honest, back in 2006, I did not see a need for this, for one, the only way to get your messages into the site, was by sending them to a UK phone number, which was too expensive at the time, and what’s more: why would I want to save my SMS anyway?

In 2007, Treasuremytext, underwent a radical transformation: the site became all 2.0-ish, added more, local numbers (even a Dutch one) and added a new feature: TextStreams.

I was invited to join their beta in December and started using it more and more … up until the point where I decided that the TextStream feature would make for a nice addition to my blog’s sidebar, allowing me to microblog from wherever I was.

So far, I have managed to submit more than 130 updates and all in all, I find it a very enjoyable and straight forward experience. Contrary to, say, Twitter, TMT, has not seen any extended downtime since I have been with them and Katie and Paul have been very good sports about turning suggestions into features, something which makes me, as a user, feel good about the time I put into coming up with new ideas.

Treasuremytext has long been a supporter of the iPhone, with an application that would allow you to upload your SMS with a couple o’ taps directly from an iPhone to your TMT account and being a strong supporter of the Windows Mobile platform, I felt that we could not be left behind.

After a couple of emails, Paul was kind enough to open up the TMT API for me and I was able to build an application that allows you to import all your messages with fewer taps than the iPhone does (take that, Steve!).

The application is not yet released for the public, but that day is not too far off, for I was able to import some 500 messages into my account without problems.

What’s more: Paul and Katie were so happy about my involvement with TMT, that they offered me a position on their Board of Advisors, where I will be serving as the resident Social Applications guy, joining both Imran Ali, who is advising TMT on connections and funding and Ian Hay, who is advising TMT on being operator-ready.

All in all, I feel both honored and humbled at the same time for being offered such a chance and Treasuremytext is most definitely a service I am willing to spend more time on.

walkjogrun.net

What do you do when you want to get back in shape but do feel like running in the local park, due to the boring scenery? Simple: you open up WalkJogRun and start planning your routes, then you convince your roomie to gear up and start doing so on a regular basis.

When I started jogging in Brooklyn, I managed to go for about a mile, before I was too exhausted to go on which is a true testament to the fact that I have not done any real exercise in a (too) long time.

WalkJogRun has been essential in making running / jogging a more fun experience, mostly because it tells you how far your route is, what kind of effect it will have on you and what’s more: the site makes it very easy to plan new route or alter existing once to better fit your profile if you want to increase the difficulty / length of a jog.

Tabata

What do you do when you are pressed for time but still want to do a short workout every day? Simple: you start working out the Tabata way and utilize what little time you have in the best possible way. Tabata is a form of high intensity interval training that takes anywhere from four to sixteen (!) minutes for a full cycle.

The basic idea is that, when you give your body adequate time to recover (10 seconds each), you can do a number of evolutions (20 seconds each) at least eight times in a row (4 minutes in total) and depending on your stamina, continue the cycle for up to four times.

I have been doing Tabata for a couple of weeks now and I like the fact that you can basically do it whenever and wherever you are (at least in theory). I started out with ordinary push-ups, which takes its toll rather quickly but soon moved on to rope jumping to have at least some variety and finally added sit-ups to the package.

All in all, Tabata makes you feel great and helps you work out even when you are busy most of the time. It is also a very nice way to burn calories and get back in shape.

For those (like myself) that have trouble counting down the seconds while working out, here is an MP3 file that will take you through one evolution. Put it on your iPod, make a playlist with this track in there eight times and start your Tabata session!

Yes, I could not be arsed to create a really nice looking cover and went for the first image that I could find on iStockPhoto. The actual sound clips are CC-licensed files from SoundSnap.

taking the Scenic Route

What do you do on a Saturday evening when you do not feel like going out to get drunk or party all night long? Simple: you open up WalkJogRun and plan a route that (most certainly) less than 1% of all New Yorkers will ever walk, then you convince your other roomie to gear up and leave.

Three hours and eight minutes later, you finally arrive at your destination: a subway stop, 7 miles (11.3 km) from your starting point … and you are glad you finally get to sit down.

This is what Becca and me did yesterday, we started out in front of our apartment and walked the whole way from our place to the Williamsburg Bridge, then onto and across the Brooklyn Bridge. We started out at 11:30 pm on Saturday and reached our end point at 02:30 am on Sunday.

You can follow the route visually or have a stab at it yourself.

One thing I always enjoyed back when I still lived in Austria was the interaction I had with my mail carrier; usually a woman between the age of thirty-five and fifty, they always took the time for a small chat, maybe one, two minutes at most, but nonetheless: that time they invested always made me eager to go out and meet them out the street.

In the Netherlands, the mail carriers I have met so far are straightforward, so much so that they do not even take the time to say anything more than “here’s your mail”, which is a pity, so imagine my surprise when I met two very friendly and outgoing mail carriers here in Brooklyn.

The first one, yesterday, started singing while I went down the stairs and did not feel the need to stop when I was standing right next to him. For one reason or another, African Americans that sing always sound great and that guy truly had an awesome voice.

Today, I met another African American mail carrier and this lady really had a great sense of humor:

Kerim: Sweet, lots of mail for us.
Mail Carrier: Which one is you?
Kerim: Two dash one?
Mail Carrier: Oh son, you ain’t loved, look at that, only four letters today.
Kerim (laughing): Yeah, that’s about the same as yesterday
Mail Carrier: Son, you gotta get famous, ya know?
Kerim: Yeah, maybe…
Mail Carrier: Put your address on the web or sum, get that junkmail, ya know?
Kerim: Yeah, I’m not sure I would want that.
Mail Carrier: well, at least you’d get some more letters!
Kerim: True, true and I’d get to see you more often!
Mail Carrier: damn right, now sign here, cause this package is for you too!
Kerim: See, I’m getting plenty of love!
Mail Carrier: We’ll see, see you tomorrow!
Kerim: Have a good un’!

All in all, two random encounters that made my day just a bit better.

When I left Austria, a couple of years ago, I left behind a number of contacts and a few friends; I did not break down camp without saying anything at all, but the way I left was rather … abrupt.

Back then, I knew that those I wanted to stay in contact with, I would somehow manage to stay in contact, even if it would come down to me having to write (actual) letters. Luckily, at the time, Skype emerged, a great tool which made things so much easier.

A couple of days ago, one of the contacts from my past got back in touch with me: we had a little chat about how things were going in our respective lives, but soon stopped talking again, knowing full well that our sense of curiosity was satisfied and neither of us really intended this to be a Hollywood-style reunion.

Be that as it may, the incident got me thinking and piqued my interest as to what my former classmates and roommates (I attended a boarding school for a couple of years) were doing.

Turns out that just about everyone I had a good relationship with did (or: does) something interesting and worthwhile: one has become a(n) (in)famous painter, the other keeps winning competition after competition, yet another one has gone on to help people in Africa and then there is a girl who turned model.

Interestingly enough, everybody I did not have a good relationship with, ended up doing nothing “big” (note that I judge this by my own standards and the amount of information that is available on the ‘net) or worth mentioning: some went into retail and some went into the hospitality sector, but all in all they all seem to be leading a pretty uneventful life.

Please note that there is, of course, nothing wrong with that and I am in no way looking down on those people or judging them in a negative way, but I, myself, crave for a more interesting life.

One of my close friends mentioned that I seem to be very selective as far as my friends go; that I only choose to invest time and friendship into those (few) individuals where the relationship would be a mutual giving and taking, a system where both parties can contribute to the other person’s life.

Looking back, looking at the things that my “good” friends did and do, looking at my current friends, I think that it is safe to say that there is a certain truth to me being selective, yet, at the same time, I find that all my (past) relationships have been very rewarding, in one way or another and I would not want to miss any of them.

So, after waiting for more than a decade and finally amassing enough courage to actually consume the MRE, I thought that it would be good to share my thoughts on the current rations the US Military provides their soldiers with:

Chicken Fajita:

The chicken fajita is one of the two bigger items in the ration and can either be consumed cold or hot. Heating it up with the included Flameless Ration Header can take anywhere between ten and fifteen minutes to finish, depending on how hot you want it. I went for a full fifteen minutes, to be on the safe side and was pleasantly surprised:

When you tear open the bag, you are greeted with a spicy smell (although I still had the smell of the chemicals that are used for the FRH in my nose) that invites you to sit down. Chances are that, when you are deployed, that you will be eating the food from inside the bag, which is possible, thanks to the included spoon, but since I had plates available, I spread it out.

Now, on first sight, it does not look like much, in fact, it bears resemblance to dog food and it certainly is no five-star-chef-prepared fajita, but then again, for something that has been stored inside a small, airtight bag, for about a year, it looks acceptable (not that you could actually care how your food looks like when you are being shot at 24/7).

The verdict? The Chicken Fajita tastes great, the peppers really burn on your tongue, the meat tastes like meat and the sauce is not too bad either. Ignoring looks for a second, this came out way better than expected.

Yellow and Wild rice pilaf:

The rice, too, can be consumed hot or cold and again, I opted for the heated version. Judging from the taste of it, I think I either undercooked or overcooked it (hard to decide), and that took away from the taste.

The Verdict? Hard to say really, the pieces that were cooked correctly tasted good, but had a weird texture to it, similar to biting on a rubber band. It was still edible, but nothing like the fajita. The rice would not act as a morale booster in its current form.

Yellow and Wild rice pilaf - UPDATE:

The second time I prepared the rice, I, supposedly, did something the right way and the rice looked and tasted like it should. No lumps, no rubbery flavor, just tasty rice.

Tortillas:

The MRE includes two tortillas, to be used with the fajita. There is not really all that much I can say about them, other than that they tasted like any normal (commercially) available tortillas I have had. They are thick enough not to fall apart when you put the chicken fajita and sauce into them and thin enough not to feel like pita bread.

The Verdict? Tastes like tortillas should taste, nothing more, nothing less.

Spiced Cider (Instant Apple Flavor Drink Mix):

One of two beverages and the only cold one in the pack, the Spiced Cider introduces itself with a faint smell of apples (no oranges though) and spices. Preparation is easy: tear open the bag, mix it with 177 ml of water, stir (preferably with the included spoon) for half a minute and consume.

The verdict? Great tasting beverage, really no difference with other “commercially” available stuff. It may have some added ingredients though, because after drinking it (one or two gulps will suffice), I actually felt like I just had consumed at least sixteen ounces of water. Nonetheless, the drink is not unpleasant at all. And it is worth 60 calories, not too shabby either.

Nut Raisin Mix:

One bag contains about 56 grams of peanuts, raisins, walnuts, almond and some other stuff as well as a little bag with an oxygen absorber. The whole bag is good for 310 calories and needs no preparation at all, so you can just eat them on the go.

In fact, I am eating the nuts right now and you can tell that they are meant as part of a healthy diet by the fact that they do not give of fat when put on paper (for comparison: put a walnut on paper and wait a few minutes, you will most probably see some kind of liquid on the paper).

The verdict? The nuts (and raisins) tasted great, they are easy to eat and did not smell funny at all. The mix also does not contain any added salt which gets a big thumbs-up from me.

French Vanilla Flavored Cappuccino:

After finishing a (good) meal, most people usually tend to grab a coffee or tea, to aid the stomach during digestion (or so I hear) and the MRE does not disappoint in this case. The ration includes a bag of vanilla flavored cappuccino that is good for a small cup of (preferably: steaming hot) coffee.

The verdict? Now this is what I call a morale booster. Nothing better than a hot drink when you are freezing and longing for some sweet lovin’. Easy to prepare, easy to consume, a definite thumbs up.

Chewing gum:

Just a quick note on this one: every MRE contains two chewing gums with a peculiar flavor I cannot readily place. It might be cinnamon, which makes sense considering the other selection of spices, but in any case: it tastes okay. The pieces are smaller compared to my usual brand of chewing gum and that might be the reason why you get two. No mention of the amount of calories in there.

The Verdict? The chewing gum tastes great during the first ten minutes or so, but then, as it starts to dissolve in your mouth, it releases a strong spicy flavor that quickly gets unbearable up to the point where you need to consume a bit of water to wash your mouth.

Flameless Ration Heater:

When man discovered fire, many things became possible. When your enemy discovers your (camp) fire, many things for them become possible, too. As to not give away a soldier’s position, the MRE contains a flameless ration heater, which operates on a basic principle: mix two substances (in this case: magnesium and water) and you will get an exothermic reaction, which results in your meal being heated in approximately ten to fifteen minutes.

The verdict? The heater is insanely easy to operate, but emits a certain smell that tends to hang around. I had the good fortune of being able to cook this in a room with many (open) windows, and I would expect the smell not to be an issue outside.

The overall verdict:

For $1 to $5 a meal, these packages contain a whole lot of great, healthy and most importantly: tasty food. They are fairly easy to prepare, easy to split up and easy to store, which is a definite win in high-stress situations, which is, obviously, what these meals were prepared for.

The common consensus of the civilian population is that military rations suck and taste shitty, but after eating two of these meals, I can tell you that they are well worth trying.

I guess that my TreasureMyText textstream really says it all:

The USPS guy just delivered two original Meals, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) - military rations. Have been looking forward to this for years now.

I have indeed been looking forward to this for twelve long years now, ever since I first read a book written by Tom Clancy where military rations where mentioned.

Back in 1996, I did not have the same facilities as I do now and I just could not get my wish fulfilled and when I was in the US the last time, during the summer of 1999, I flat-out forgot to grab a pack of MREs.

This time around however, I got myself a set and they just arrived. So far, they are looking quite good. I wonder how the taste is…

One more day to go and my first four weeks in NYC will officially be over. Does not really seem that way from my point, because I can still remember the day when I go there:

On the day I left the Netherlands, I had to get up at 06:15 am, way too early for my taste, but thinking that it would all be for the greater good, I put up and made do.

After a quick breakfast, I was off to ’s Hertogenbosch Central Station, where I would meet up with a friend of mine who wanted to accompany me to the airport and wave her goodbyes.

Following a short ride on the train, we entered Shiphol Airport, which seemed to be quite an experience for my company, mostly because she had never been to an airport before, much less flown a plane.

The check-in was quite painless, with a friendly ground stewardess explaining, in great detail, where I had to go, once I arrived at London Heathrow and ensuring that I understood the directions. Makes me wonder if many people are actually able to get lost on that five minute walk…

The day before I left, I spent, I think, at least two hours packing stuff the right way and stripping out anything that would not be needed, and it paid off: once I entered no-mans-land and walked through the first checkpoint, one of the security officers actually complimented me on my packaging skills - score one for the home team I guess.

Another funny bit is that, since I am traveling with an Austrian passport, everybody felt the need to talk to me in German, which felt kind-of weird to me, but still: a great service.

The flight to London was easy, had a little chat with one of the stewards who talked to me about the planes that were already outfitted to allow cellphones during flight and how the plane we used was not yet upgraded to add this service. No child sitting next to me (in fact, nobody sitting in my row at all) meant a nice fourty minutes of relaxation.

I got a little bit freaked out when the pilot mentioned that the flight would take fourty minutes, because that would mean that I would be too late for my connecting flight and I kept stressing out until I arrived in London and finally realized, thanks to an announcement stating the local time, that the UK was in a -1 timezone. Phew!

Once in Heathrow, I made use of the instructions I got earlier and quickly found the gate where my plane to JFK would be departing from but first had to go through a security checkpoint (the fifth one at that point) where I was, once again, complimented on my compartmentalized packaging technique.

A lighthearted security guy frisked me (he skipped on the body cavity search though) and asked me for the address that I would be staying at during the first night. I had everything prepared the way it should have been (mostly thanks to tsa.gov and got through the whole ordeal in two minutes as opposed to ten (which is what the next guy took). Apparently, doing what the security officer asks you to do and not resisting can make it a whole lot easier.

During the flight itself, I discovered Virgin Atlantic’s in-flight entertainment system called v:port, which a selection of great movies and while consuming the food, a selection of chicken with mushrooms, pasta salad and pudding with 53% chocolate, I watched and very much enjoyed Into the Wild.

Some six-seven hours later, when we landed, people started clapping, which reminded me of the kind of audience you would expect in a Turkey-bound airplane. People, the pilot is supposed to land the plane, successfully; that is what we pay him (or her) for…

And quite a good pilot he was (or maybe just plain lucky): we got to JFK twenty minutes early, which meant that our gate was still occupied, so we just parked in the middle of a runway; if that ain’t pushing your luck, I would not know what is.

While disembarking the plane, I had a little bit of a déjà vu experience, the gangway which led us to the customs hall had the exact same ads as the one we used in Heathrow, even at the same spots.

Getting through customs was easy, the whole process not taking any longer than twelve minutes, of which I spent ten in a line leading to the actual officer. I was prepared for everything, needed nothing other than my passport and index fingers. Friendly and professional are keywords here. So much for the FUD most people tried to instill in me.

In order to combat jet lag, I decided not to sleep on the plane and complete the day/night cycle according to East coast time, which resulted in me, technically speaking, going for an all-nighter. Nonetheless, I woke up very refreshed the next morning and had, at that time, already adjusted to the local time.

The day after my arrival, Pak-Kei and me went to a few of the events that were part of the Internet Week New York, one of them being Mashable’s exhibit hall, where I discovered a couple of nice services (more on that some other time) and got rick-rolled by the DJ, which sparked quite a few laughs from the attending audience.

I also got to meet a few people from The Hatchery, which is basically an American Idol for companies, it would certainly be great to put those connections to use some time in the future…

As past of the Internet Week New York, Pak-Kei and me also went to a panel on Net Aesthetics and did some more stuff, like attending (yet another) “Diggnation does IT live” recording, where I even got interviewed, based on the fact that I was, apparently, the one fan that travelled the farthest of all attendees.

Shortly after that, the first semi-heatwave (we only had four out of the required five days to be actually allowed to call it a heatwave) of the year hit us, with temperatures averaging 32 deg. C (89.6 deg. F) and even peaking a whooping 37 deg. C (98 deg. F).

Once the heatwave was gone and our Internet uplink was restored, I finally got a chance to sit down and get dirty with the likes of CodeIgniter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, IMEEM and Last.fm, in order to build what I came here to build.

A few more, noteworthy things are the thunderstorms (and lovely warnings that weather.com provides you with) and the home cooked style meals that are so fat that they can easily give you a cardiac arrest, but still taste amazingly good.

For some visuals, check out my gallery or my Flickr photostream.