This doesn't fit the scope of the project yet, but it may in the future. Perhaps there could be permanent forum topic called "Things that would be awesome to have in the future, but aren't obtainable yet"
Not sure how well known this is, but Nokia released its cell phone operating system for Python in Oct of 2005.
Python for S60 brings the power and productivity ofthe Python programming language to the S60 platform. The tools enable rapid application development and prototyping, and the ability to create stand-alone S60 applications written in Python.
This opens the door for future interaction between the directory and your cell phone (i.e. looking up someones number, checking birthdays, or being able to tell when someone else in the directory is close to you).
RE: Python + Cell Phones
Thanks for putting fresh articles like this on the table, Abe.
Its fascinating to me that a public company is opening their cell phone technology to open source, but it makes sense if their seeking the latest ideas, enhancements, and improvements from savvy open source developers.
This past Sunday I had a conversation with John Li (sp?), who is underway in the Action Division - Dinkytown chapter. He mentioned that he studied CS in Korea and did java development for cell phone web capabilities. Even though he decided to change majors, I think someone should get in touch with him and see if he's interested in this project. A person like that who just brushes off that skill set, and decides "Well, I think I'm going to try Biology", although I mean no disrespect to his decision, it seems that with his experience he could be a great addition to the team.
I must say that it's impressive that we're tackling Python on this project. As Abe's article demonstrates, it's a language of choice among others who are pursuing new ways to improve communication. Way to go team!
I'm scared to know where cell phones and cell phone directories are going to be in 10 years, given the fact that currently - cell phones do just about everything under the sun in addition to act as an actual telephone. Along similar lines, I think its technology that grow so fast like this that forces follow up security measure to be taken such as the implementation of national do-not-call lists to avoid telemarketers.
I agree that this is exciting stuff, but, I'd also like to encourage more posts from others about their knowledge in security and what additional steps we might need to take as we pursue the current task at hand.
On a final cell phone comment/question I wanted to make is -- my 2 yr Verizon service plan is up for new phone promotion in late December. Anyone have a good suggestion on models out there that you have found to be useful? The minimal requirements I'd like to have are pretty basic: voicemail, call waiting, mute: this is crucial for conference calls, txt and maybe pix messaging, maybe online/email access, but most importantly - basic phone conversation :). I know that most of those options are offered in the service plan, but I would still appreciate your suggestions (other than lg chocolate, white chocolate, mint chocolate, or cherry chocolate. What the heck! Do they come out with a new flavor every week!?)
Your brother,
Hugh
my recommended cell carrier
Hugh,
Recently the Raclin Hall crowd went through a big a decision about cell carriers. We had been with Verizon but the reception in our building was terrible. Also, were also having trouble with customer service. There were a lot of us who needed to be on the plan and Verizon wasn't offering us any kind of business discounts or a single POC for our issues. Verizon may have great reception other places--I don't mean to knock them--but they weren't working out for us.
To make a long story short, we wound up going with Nextel and it's been awesome. Apparently, at one point Nextel owned so much of the cell phone spectrum (don't really know what that's called) that they had to sell some of it back to the government. Their reception in our building is terrific. I haven't been around enough yet to test other environments, but they do work well in Allendale and Dinkytown.
We really like the direct connect feature, too. It's great for the kind of quick communication that common life demands. "Jeremy, where are you?" "I'll be at the door in 2."
One of the things I like about Nextel is how well the standard features work. The phones themselves are relatively stripped down. No cameras on the basic models, but they all have awesome speakers for speaker phone calls, 3 way calling, mute, all the stuff you were talking about. I feel like I'm paying for quality basic stuff rather than fancy stupid stuff I don't need. (The speaker is worth its weight in cadmium as far as I'm concerned.)
Also, the phones are super durable and meet military specifications for sand and dust, and that's just cool.
Did I mention the off-network walkie-talkie feature? All the phones work as basic walkie talkies with a 6 mile radius. They don't need cell phone towers to communicate. Hurricane disaster relief here we come!
That's my rec.
Sean