As you know, the SONS of Thunder and I are one with fire. And pretty much one with various knives and basically anything that involves the woods, burning things and sharpening sticks.

We are becoming, as the Little Black Dress points out, gear and survival junkies. For The Dress, “survival” means no lipstick – or high heels. But I digress.

And, we’re pretty much experts on the whole “you are playing the role of a couple of really, really stupid tourists who decide to wander around in the Amazon jungle with nothing more than a toothpick, a left shoe and some gum” shows – the ones where you take said implements and somehow start fire, build a canoe and kill a hippo.

There are three main shows relating to said “I’m a tourist trying to survive” shows: Man Verses Wild, Dual Survival and Man, Woman Wild.

And based on which show you prefer, I can pretty much sum up your entire life history and personality.

Let’s start with the original one – Man Verses Wild featuring Bear Grylls. He already gets points for his name – Bear. And let’s face it, he does fall into the “stud” category. He climbed Everest at the age of 23, broke his back parachuting, and circumvented the United Kingdom on jet skis.

He’s also a former Special Air Service member, which as near as I can tell is the equivalent of our Navy SEALS. Except they take a break from fighting for afternoon tea.

Bear started off well, but let’s just say he’s sold out to the commercial world. He’s now teamed up with Gerber – not the baby food, but knife company – and has all kinds of Bear Grylls’ survival knife, fire starter, glow-in-the-dark compass, all-in-one survival kit and just fill in the blank.

When he starts a clothing line at K-mart, I am definitely done.

He’s also become more of a “don’t try this at home” type. Like he’s standing at the top of some waterfall and for some reason the only way to get down is to jump 60 feet down into a 3×4-foot pool of water. Or, he jumps across a gorge by leaping 30 feet into the air and smashes into a tree, with his weight pushing him and the tree to the other side. Did I mention said gorge is about 500 feet down?

And every time he does one of those stunts The Dress looks at the SONS and says “If you even think about …”

He’s becoming too commercial, too perfect, too daring, too …

“Eye candy,” The Dress says.

And there you go.

The newest member of the survival shows is Man, Woman Wild.  This basically involves Mykel, another one of those SAS guys, and his wife, Ruth, a TV journalist. They happen to be married. Trust me, it shows.

I had high hopes. Think about it, The Dress and I out in the woods, surviving with what’s in our pockets, just hanging out together while the SONS bring up coconuts they scrounge off the beach, watching the sunset …

And then I always wake up.

In a nutshell, here’s how it goes. Mykel will go into this long explanation about something involving the equinox and tidal currents and how that somehow relates to building a fire. And Ruth will do something, or not do something, and Mykel goes “now honey.”

And Ruth will call Mykel a horse’s arse. She says that because she’s English, but it sounds funny and is not nearly as powerful as the American version. And then Mykel gets mad and puts on his helmet cam with an extended pole for the video camera and goes out to kill an elephant. And that pretty well kills the show. Because Mykel can probably decapitate you with a credit card, but when he puts on the helmet cam, you’d laugh in his face – even knowing he can decapitate you with a credit card.

And in the meantime Ruth starts playing journalist and gives us the history of how the Incas used to take acorns and smash them up to make a pie, but first they had to leech them to get rid of some weird something in said acorn. And Ruth does the whole leech thing with a sock.

And then Mykel comes back and they both say they love each other and kiss. And the SONS go “ugh.”

The Dress does not like this show. And she always asks why I watch this show and I simply say: Eye candy. Ruth that is.

And then there’s Dual Survival, which is the favorite of the SONS and I, and even The Dress likes this one. It’s probably because they don’t wear helmet cams, leech acorns in socks or leap over tall buildings in a single bound.

It features Dave, an Army-trained Scout and sniper, and Cody, a primitive skills expert. That’s what the bios say. To cut to the chase, Dave is from the backwoods and drank too much moonshine, Cody is a hippie who experimented – a lot – with peyote.

And they are like an old married couple. Cody plays the wife, gathering wood chips and snails to eat, building the “home” back at camp and muttering to himself. Dave is out hunting for meat and beats his chest will bring back a wildebeest. Cody is mellow; Dave is an ADD poster child.

But these guys are good. Dave can make fire from a rain cloud. Dave can take a boa constrictor and squeeze it to death.

And what I admire is they’ll look in the camera and say “don’t try this at home.” And they’ll look at each other and say “and we’re not trying it either.” And they don’t have a clothing line at some Big Box Store In The Sky and don’t say “arse” and would kill any producer who tried to make them wear a helmet cam.

At least, not yet.

And there you go.

It must be related to certain milestones. I bought my first truck as I approached the big 4-0. Ten years later, and coming up on the half-century mark, it was time.

I do not “do” fancy. My latest toy does not have a gun rack, rear camera, GPS or anything leather. “Stereo” is questionable and the paint is that in name only. There are dents and rust and scrapes and … pure character.

Age-wise, this symbol of manhood is roughly that of the SONS of Thunder – combined.

Why a truck? As I said in my post about my first one, to do, well, truck things. Like going to the dump, camping, hauling whatever new/old knick-knack The Dress discovers, just driving around with the SONS.

Eldest SON, who was three at the time of the first truck, called it a “frack.” He loved it, primarily because there was no muffler. Which basically meant it sounded like a jet engine, which Eldest thought was beyond cool.

I had two great memories from that first truck. The first was as collection, just driving around the cornfields of Nebraska with Eldest.

The second was when I sold it.

Next door to us was a house converted into a couple of apartments. In one lived two 20-something girls. They struggled to survive, working at a custom T-shirt company. They just didn’t have any money. Their transportation was one of those baby trucks, the really small ones that probably would fit in the back of my truck. The back window was broken out. The heater didn’t work. This was Nebraska.

One day in winter, I came home from yet another late night at the newspaper to see our walkway was cleared of snow and a path was dug all the way to the back alley where the garbage cans were. The Dress was only a few days away from delivering Middle SON. The girls had gone out and shoveled the snow, just to help us out.

Later, I transferred within my company to Georgia. The question was what to do with the truck, because we really couldn’t take it with us. I wasn’t even sure it would make it.

I decided to give it to the girls. But Nebraska has absurdly high taxes, especially on cars – even beat up old trucks. I knew they couldn’t even pay the taxes.

So I walked over and knocked on the door. The girls answered, and I asked for a dollar. Yes, I got a really weird look, but they dug around and gave it to me.

And I handed over a bill of sale: one truck, one dollar. And the keys. And they cried. And they hugged me. And I cried.

It was a very good day.

They had, to them, a new truck. One twice as big, with all the windows intact, and electric ones at that. And they had a heater.

It was a very, very good day.

About a week ago, The Dress spotted the truck by the side of the road. Here’s the irony: my old truck was grey, this was – at least at one time – tan and green. But they were the exact same models, Ford 150 EFT, two-door, with a bench in the back.

“Sometimes birthdays just have to come early,” The Dress said.

So today I got tags for my new toy. Oh, and dropped it off at my mechanic’s shop. Yes, we’ll probably spend more just to get it somewhat roadworthy than what we paid for it. But that’s okay.

For example, the gear indicator is broken, that red line that tells you what gear you are in as you move the gear shift. The Dress was pretty adamant that get fixed pronto, saying something about how would she know what gear she was in without it.

And, doing that speak before thinking mistake, I politely pointed that if she stepped on the accelerator and the car didn’t move, it probably was in park, if she stepped on it and she went backwards, she probably was in reverse and if she stepped on it and went forward … and I then realized I might be sounding a little condescending and ducked just in time.

The SONS are, shall we say, stoked. They are already demanding to camp. Not take the truck camping, but rather camp inside the truck. I told them we probably need to clean it up a little first.

The Dress starts in with telling the SONS it really is an old truck and lots of their friends’ dads have brand new trucks with leather and power this and that and awesome stereos and GPS and digit do-dads and someone might make fun and …

“We don’t care,” they say in unison.

They get it. They see the vision. They have the imagination. Because they know this truck is special, one that will take them places those fancy new ones will never go because the paint might get scratched.

It is a truck of adventure. The time is now.

Let the journey, and memories, begin.

And to The Dress – thanks.

In this case, that of the Little Black Dress.

Back in 2008, The Dress decided what she wanted to do in life, which was simply to follow her passion. That passion is stated quite clearly, and uncharacteristically for her, succinctly on the masthead of her website:  A Christian Speaker Empowering, Equipping and Encouraging Women of God.

And that’s what she is. And she is very, very good. And that’s because it is the gift God bestowed upon her.  And she is wise because unlike some, she takes that gift with gratitude and uses it.

Her motto, which you will also see prominently on her site, is Helping Women Discover Their Dreams, Passion and Purpose.  That is her gift, that is her passion.

It has been a long time coming. Life got in the way. But at some point, you have to drop everything and realize what is most important – doing what God wants you to do, rather than what you want to do.

The most successful people, and I speak of an eternal rather than a worldly view, are the ones who align their purposes and passions with God’s.

The Dress more than excels at that definition.

Earlier I said it was a long time coming, and it was. The Dress said it was harder than giving birth to the Sons of Thunder – and it sure seemed to take a lot longer.

But it’s now here. Her passion to help women find their passion and purpose has hit a whole new level.

The Dress has a new website at corbywinters.com.

Please drop by and say hello.

Enough already.

As you can see, the site has undergone change a serious upgrade. Why? Because it’s time for a change something different. There’s a lot coming down the proverbial pipeline, so to speak, and this is part of it.

I’ve also added another site – thejohnwinters.com. Consider that a sort of home or landing page for everything that’s going on. There, you’ll see links to my book, this blog, the blog for the Little Black Dress, information on what I’m up to and other projects in the works.

It’s been a busy couple of weeks. And with that said, there will be some bugs and spiders and missing whatevers. This is still a work in progress, but it’s been a fun ride so far.

A special thanks to Brian White, creative director for TriLion Studios. All credit goes to him for the design of both sites. He is a master and I highly recommend his team. And another special thanks to a former employee who has gone on to create her own company, Beth Berry of Berry Graphics. She designed a gazillion Just Flip The Dog banners trying to appease me, as well as an assortment of other JFTD extras you will see shortly. Anyone who can put up with my myriad of requests, and stay in a good humor, is priceless.

So come on in and poke around. Enjoy your stay and hope to hear from you.

jaw

Like biking across the country, sailing around the world, running a marathon, hiking the Inca Trail. Wow, that sounds great, I can’t wait, this will be so cool …

And then you actually think about what you just committed to.

Yeah. So apparently yours truly and eldest Son of Thunder are off on another Boy Scout adventure. This time we will be exploring a cave. Okay, no problem. We are to bring “old clothes” because we “probably” will get muddy. I guessing that because of the “old clothes” suggestion, and the fact the tour provides headlamps, gloves and knee pads.

So my rapier wit is figuring the knee pads and gloves are to provide some protection as apparently we get to crawl. In the mud. And the last time I had fun crawling around in mud I was five years old.

But wait, there’s more. Because we are to bring a plastic bag to put our “old clothes” in and have something else to change into. Why? Because we are going to spend the night in said cave.

What the heck was I thinking?   

Now, being a former investigative journalist, I’ve done some, well, investigating.

Here’s what the cave web site says, along with a few choice comments from me:  ”includes some belly crawls (none of which are too long. I define too long as longer than half the length of my body. We shall see), a visit to sandpaper slide (most memorable. The definition of “memorable” depends on one’s viewpoint. And my butt is going to hurt.), passing through the famous 49-cent squeeze. Why is it not a 50-cent squeeze, at least that way I’d have half a chance.

So I have the privilege of getting muddy, sandpapering my rear-end and hopefully not getting stuck in the famous squeeze and slowly rotting away to become a sight-seeing event for future tours.

And yes, there will be bats. I know this because there’s a word of caution on the web site, which, as near as I can tell, means said bats MIGHT be infected with something far worse than, say, rabies.

“White Nose Syndrome (WNS) is a fungus that covers the faces and wings of bats as they hibernate and has been observed as far south as the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in Tennessee and as far west as Oklahoma. While no afflicted bats have been found in the Chattanooga area, Raccoon Mountain Caverns is working hard to prevent the spread of WNS.”

So at least we got that going for us as we bed down for the night – thinking about some white-nosed bat sucking the very life out of us.

I need more bat mace.

But golly gosh darn, we are going to have fun. And I am prepared (being the dad of a Boy Scout and following the creed and all). I’m packing a tent, in case it rains inside the cave. I’ve got plenty of flashlights and emergency radios – all solar-powered thank you very much. (Just doing my part to help the environment). And in honor of those Chilean miners, I’m taking a brand new pair of Oakley sunglasses and SPF-50 cream for UV protection.

Another dad said he’d bring the firewood, so I feel we’ll cover that whole “be prepared” deal.

We also can bring water, energy bars, candy bars, granola bars, but no portable bar. And no carbonated drinks. Apparently said carbonated drinks will make us burp more, which in turn will release more CO2 and thus lead to our suffocating deaths quicker thank anticipated.

This came up during the pre-cave visit pep/fear talk for all the scouts from our fearless scoutmaster. And he was nice enough to let the boys know that ”almost everyone comes back alive.”

One concern, other than everything else, is we aren’t going into the cave until like 6 p.m. or so. And it’s supposed to be a four-to-six hour excursion. I hope those guides know what they’re doing, because personally I think it’s going to get dark – with the sun going down and all – in that cave before we get done.

I admit I got sort of a look from Eldest Son when I mentioned the possibility of bats. And no, I did not include all that white-nosed information. And rabies. No, didn’t mention that either.  But he did give me a look, and it was not exactly a “oh wow, how cool is that” kind of look about seeing bats sucking the life blood out of him.

He also asked about bears – this being winter and that whole hibernation thing. And I assured him, well, as best as I could assure myself, that bears were probably not going to be a factor.

But that got me thinking about other things, those things you don’t want to disturb when you play dwarf, like in the Lord of the Rings. Those things that come out when you start going too far underground, where you have no business being anyway. You know, things like Orcs. Now I figure there’s going to be enough of us that it’s going to take a pretty big army of Orcs to bother us. So I’m okay there. And I’ve got one of those Orc blades like Frodo had in the Lord of the Rings.

Now Cave Trolls, that’s another matter. I hate Cave Trolls. They are worse than the clichéd bull in a china shop. They stink – bad; they just wade in like a rhino and destroy your camp; oh, and they squash you with their feet, if they haven’t already smashed your head in with that big spiked mace thing.

And we are not even going to mention, let alone say, “Balrog.”

To be continued …?

Yet for a couple of reasons noted below, I have gone off and purchased an e-reader. And no, it was not an iPad or Ipad or IPad or whatever that acronym is. Never can remember, and does it really matter?

Nope, I got the new Barnes and Noble reader, known as the Nook Color. And yes, “color” as in it has a color screen and not just black and white like all the other e-readers.

And actually the Little Black Dress was the one who convinced me, and not primarily for the book part. I read a lot, a lot on my iPhone, Iphone, IPhone or whatever it is. Basically my mobile office. But hours of e-mail, Twitter, blogging and Google Reader, and yes, books, on a screen about the size of a large stamp gets the old eyes tired.

The main selling point, at least for me, was the 7-inch screen and the ability to surf the web – with either a full browser or mobile version.

I promise not to bore you with all the tech specs, but rather focus on the pros and cons of said device, if you are in the market for something like this.

First, it’s pretty cool looking. It’s hefty in terms of solid, but weighs much less than a netbook. It’s just under a pound, the iPad, Ipad (oh, never mind) is 1.5 pounds. As I mentioned, screen is 7 inches, iPad is just under 10 inches. The Nook Color is pretty close in size to the various Kindles, but weighs twice as much as the Kindle 3, but less than the Kindle DX.

Okay, that was a few tech specs, but that’s it.

The Nook Color apparently can hold about 6,000 books. I for one am already tired of everyone comparing/bragging about how many books their specific device can hold. Reading one book a day, every day, means I’d get through those 6,000 in a little more than 16 years.

Seriously, does anyone need to be carting around more than say, 50 books?

Furthermore, I realize people have more than one book going at a time. I do the same. But let’s face it, you’re only actually reading one book at a time. None of these devices, Nook included, has split screens. And if you are actually reading two books at once, well, I’m sorta impressed, but don’t understand why.

Let’s bring up what critics will call the big drawback – battery life. Kindle lovers will point out their new version can go like 7.64 years without a charge. The Nook Color is rated at 8 hours.

So far, that just hasn’t been a problem for me. Over the last three days, I’ve completed one book, started another, spent about two hours a day going through various RSS feeds, email and what not. I’ve still got 40 percent left.  Now, if you are going to be stranded on the clichéd deserted island for a month, bring the Kindle. Otherwise, I’m not too concerned. It’s getting better battery life than my iPhone.

Now for some positives. One, you’re tied in to Barnes and Noble, meaning you have more than 2 million books to choose from, which is way more than Apple or Amazon. Two, when you go into a B&N store, you can actually select a book and read it on your Nook for an hour – for free. Every day. Third, you can lend a book you purchase to a friend. Fourth, it has audio. Now it’s not a Bose system in terms of sound, but you can listen to music through the back speaker or plug in ear phones. And yes, you can upload your own tunes to it.  Fifth, you can read in all sorts of fonts, font sizes and colored backgrounds.

Another pro/con is the screen.  It’s more like a computer screen, meaning it’s not quite as easy to read in direct sunlight as the black and white e-ink readers. However, because it’s color it’s backlit, meaning you can read it in the dark. I’ve found the color to be pretty awesome and am thoroughly enjoying it.

The Nook Color runs on the Android system (Google). It’s currently at a lower software version, meaning it does not have access to Google’s Marketplace (iPhone’s App store). However, that’s supposed to change sometime this first quarter, and if it does, this little device becomes a mini-tablet.

In other words, right now you can’t add any apps. Well, you can, but it’s cheating; or in computer-speak, “rooting.” That basically means you do all sorts of no-no’s to your Nook with the software and voila, you have all the Google apps. I’ve got a friend who did that, and I have to admit, it’s pretty cool.

But I’ll wait for B&N to – hopefully – release a version soon that gives us access. Doing so makes the Nook Color a slightly smaller version of the iPad. Not all  the bells and whistles, but pretty darn close.

One reason is the Color version sells for $249 – or what it costs me to gas up the Suburban. The lowest priced iPad is more than twice that.  And to be honest, I like to spread my stuff around. Apple already has me with the iPhone, I just don’t want to give them everything in their quest for world domination.

Finally, the Nook Color is wi-fi only. For some who want complete mobility, as in 3G, that might be a drawback. But I primarily do my web surfing at home, which has wi-fi. I can still get e-mail on my iPhone on the road so to speak so that’s not an issue for me. Plus, I can read what I’ve downloaded, including books, anywhere. That’s provided I don’t read for more than eight hours or so and drain that tiny battery. I’ve yet to read eight hours at one time any time.

Is it right for you? That depends on what you want. But if you are looking for a very nice e-reader that also has great web browsing capabilities and costs less than half of an iPad, I’d suggest you give it a serious look.

My age is showing,  as it took me a minute to figure some of it out.

]]> http://justflipthedog.com/2010/03/god-texts-the-ten-commandments/feed/ 0 http://justflipthedog.com/2010/02/the-guy-you-want-by-your-side/ http://justflipthedog.com/2010/02/the-guy-you-want-by-your-side/#comments Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:21:16 +0000 winjaw http://justflipthedog.com/?p=912 There are certain people you just want by your side when all whatever is about to happen.

“Certainty of death. Small chance of success. What are we waiting for?”

Gimli, the dwarf in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, ready to die for a friend.

Dude.

Back to pencils.

At their core, pencils are effortless. No booting up, no freezing, no viruses. Just write.

The only drawback to pencils is carrying them. I don’t “do” pocket protectors and to me, those mechanical pencils you click aren’t really pencils. Those things are like man purses. They just don’t count.

You need a wooden pencil. Yet a good wooden pencil needs a sharp point. And the problem is you’ll either poke your eye out or scream when you sit down and that pencil in your pocket jabs into your leg. Not manly.

Enter the Perfect Pencil.

This little gizmo solves all the problems with carrying around a wooden pencil.

One Piece

It comes with a cap, and a clip. So, you don’t have to worry about stabbing yourself and getting lead poisoning and eventually amputation. With the clip, you can carry it in your pocket sans nerd alert pocket protector.

And following in the footsteps of the infamous Ginsu knives, “But wait, there’s more!”

This baby comes with a detachable section that includes a pencil sharpener. Ta da! Life is good.

The Perfect Pencil is made by Faber-Castell, which according to its web site, can trace its origins back to the Visigoths era.  Apparently, the pencils were originally used as small crossbow darts during castle sieges. But as peace reigned throughout the land, they came up with another use.

The pencils are five inches long and come with an interesting dark eraser. At least it’s not pink, and it erases. And that’s the primary purpose of an eraser in my opinion.

With Cap Off

A new pencil with the cap on measures just over six inches. You can get the pencils in retro black or something akin to brown. The cap is silver.

The set is a little pricey – $40 for the cap/sharpener and three pencils. I got mine at Pen City, but I also found it somewhere for the absurd price of $250.

Of course, this one charged by the adjective: To wit, “premium pencil in precious Californian cedar with fine fluting and replaceable eraser. Extender with integrated sharpener and multi-part spring-clip. Finished in silver, platinum or Sterling silver plating.”

But let’s not stop there. You can also go for the $495 “desk set.” Again, multiple adjectives: “This is a gift set which contains 4 additional pencils. All these items are presented in a beautiful alder wood with hand finished glass lid. Packaged includes: Silver plated extender, built-in sharpener, 4 pencils, erasers, pencils refills. Complete with a glass lid desk top packaging.”

Amazing what an extra pencil and a glass lid will set you back.  Seriously, it’s a friggin pencil. In reality, what you’re paying for is the

cap/sharpener. You can use the same pencil you used at school, it fits.

The only difference with the Faber pencils is that they are round, verses the many-sided ones. But again, whatever floats your boat.

With Sharpener Extended

If you are not going to make it through the day without seeing what a $250 cap/sharpener/pencil looks like, go here. And if you need to spend your lottery winnings with the desk box, click here.

If you can restrain yourselves, the everyman version is here.

Readers of this blog understand my obsession, er, fondness, with my Blackberry Bold.  What the Little Black Dress calls “my girlfriend.”

But as a somewhat identified crackberry, I am always on the lookout for new programs to play with.

One I have searched for with little success is a powerful mobile blogging tool that integrates with this WordPress blog.

Enter Screamingtoaster and their Wicked Blogg App for WordPress and Blackberrys.

And yes, they had me at Screamingtoaster – seriously, how could you not try something from a company with a name like that? And their tag – Engineered for Happiness – isn’t too bad either.

So, let’s go for a spin.

First off, this app is not free. It”s thirty bucks ($30) for a year subscription. All upgrades included during that period.  I don’t have a problem with that for two simple reasons.

1. There’s a 14-day fully-operational free trial period.

2. Their customer service is absurd. As in incredible. I e-mailed with a few questions and heard back from Izabel, chief  “customer awesomeness experience and yes we can” officer, within a short time.

And dear Izabel offered to answer my questions by e-mail, or would I prefer a phone call?

Huh?

I checked the definition of “customer service” in an online dictionary. Here’s what I came up with.

1. ha, ha, ha.

2. an archaic term of the early 20th century where companies actually listened (snicker, snicker) to their customers, valued (snicker, snicker) their customers and took every possible step to solve their issues (LMAO).

3. A term since replaced with the use of autorobots where companies compete to see how many “please press button X” they can make customers hit, multiplied by pi for duration of call minutes involved.

Anyway, so I set up a phone call with Izabel for the next day. Prior to the call, I get another e-mail. This time from the head honcho, president, developer himself – Nazmul. Who proceeds to go point-by-point through all my questions in great length, explaining the whys and wherefores of each of my issues.

Oh, and what they’re going to do about it.

So anyway, later that day I get on the phone with Izabel, who later puts Nazmul on teleconference, and we talk it up for about an hour.  And then they apologize for keeping me so long.

Yes, I understand they are a startup and need all the positive press/customer experiences they can get. But you know what, they delivered.

It’s very simply, try it. If you don’t like it after two weeks, you don’t have to buy it. I will. I think it’s that good, despite a couple of shortcomings, which I’ll get too.

I think the support documentation alone, which not only includes step-by-step instructions, but comes with a plethora of videos to boot, would impress anyone.

And yes, that’s Izabel’s voice. And yes, they give a pretty good argument on the whole free verses paid model, and also talk about what else you can get for your $30.

On with the show.

I’m not going to try and compete with the all the information they provide. It would take hours and way too many words. Plus I don’t really “do” video.

But some highlights:

1.  You can have as many blogs as you want.

2. Your license works with other Blackberrys and you don’t have to recreate anything because it’s all in the cloud (which I still don’t fully understand, but it’s up there).

3. Works on phone networks, 3G and wi-fi. Blackberry versions 4.6 and higher, WordPress version 2.7.1 or higher.

4. Has a nice little Twitter application, so you can just tweet away.

5. Spell checker

Posting:

You can view recent posts, edit old posts and write new ones. Writing a post is simple, click on “write a post.” You can assign tags and categories.

And here’s a cool thing. If you’re like me, you’ve got way too many tags. Their program has a “find” feature where you just type in the first few letters and every tag starting with those letters comes up. Same with categories.

You can also create new tags and new categories from the program, and it lets you post immediately or you can save it as a draft. Drafts are saved in the same place as posts.

But there’s more. You can also snap a pix with your BB, or attach one from your BB memory card and add that to your post as well.

Other fun things include the ability to delete posts, change to web view, and a pretty neat little filter. You can filter by tags or categories, or even author.

Comments:

You can pretty much do the same with comments.

You can see all comments, or filter them by author. You can also reply to comments, delete them, edit them or check them out in web view.

To-Do List:

I really like this feature. Basically, it’s what its name implies. Sitting somewhere and have a great idea for a blog but not enough time to write it out? You can create a “to-do” and put in some information.

You can also have the program geo-tag your location at the time you wrote the to-do.

Later on, you can delete the to-do, or edit it and even send it to your post editor. Essentially, write a blog from your to-do. Very, very useful.

Finally, there’s also a nice “who is near me” feature if you enable it (your choice). So you can find other “wicked” folks around you.

Conclusion:

I’m really liking this program.

Is is perfect? Not quite.

I have a couple of issues. For one, my whole geo-tag isn’t working. For some reason the program is not getting a lock on me. But Nazmul said he’s working on a fix for that. I’ll leave it at that. Apparently, I’m the only one with this problem so far, which is typical in my life right now.

A minor problem is you can’t bold or italic anything, but again they said they’re going to provide that. In the meantime, Nazmul showed me a little trick (and yes I know every computer programmer worth their salt knows this, but I’m not a programmer, so please lay off because there are others who don’t either).

Anyway, <strong>what you want in boldface</strong> and <em>what you want in italic</em>

My only other issue is with the “to-do.” Right now, a time-stamp is created when you create your “to-do.” If you later post that “to-do”, the time-stamp on your post shows up as the “to-do’s” original creation time, not when you actually posted it.

Again, they said they’d make options to change that in later versions. You can always get on a regular computer and change the time-stamp if you want.

So, you get a two-week free trial, incredible support documentation and awesome customer service.You have nothing to lose. Again, just take a quick look here for what all is offered.

And yeah, I’m going with this one.