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Vacation Blogging Brought to You By…

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While on my recent Socal vacation, I didn’t have access to a computer for blogging. Instead I updated Pulpconnection using a combination of mobile devices and various Internet services. Here’s a rundown.

iPhone (and built-in camera). My iPhone 3G was the primary device for getting online. I used its okay internal camera for posted pictures.

AT&T 3G Network. I must say that the AT&T 3G network worked well in Socal. Very, very few dead spots or times when I dropped to EDGE speeds. Only at the LAX airport did I have some serious 3G network slowdowns. Other than that, I preferred the 3G network even over WiFi. The free WiFi access at hotels were slow and always required a web login to initiate your session and subsequent logins to keep your session going.

WordPress for iPhone. Since Pulpconnection is now powered by WordPress, I relied on the app, WordPress for iPhone, to make significant blog posts. Though significant is relative since tapping out a lengthy post on the iPhone’s virtual keyboard isn’t the easiest thing to do.

One thing I hope the WordPress team fixes is the image handling of this iPhone app. It seems all images are added to the end of blog posts and can’t be placed within paragraphs of a post. That and sometimes the app’s UI would mess up and not display the necessary navigation buttons at the top. So I’d be stranded, not able to save my post. Fortunately, when leaving the app and coming back in, the app is able to restore my draft.

Tweetie, Twitter (with Twitpic), and Twitter Tools for WordPress. For all shorter blog posts, I used a bunch of stuff. Tweetie is my primary Twitter client on the iPhone. Combined with Twitter Tools for WordPress, tweets can automatically be converted to blog posts. I used this nifty function quite a bit.

Brightkite. To update my Socal location, I used Brightkite. The iPhone’s GPS would find my coordinates which I would check in using the Brightkite service. Brightkite integrates with Twitter and tweets my current location. And with Twitter Tools running, even these location based tweets are converted to blog posts.

So there you have it, my arsenal for mobile blogging without a computer. I will say that it wasn’t the easiest thing to do, but it wasn’t so difficult to stop me. To make this a more ideal setup would be incorporating an ultra portable netbook with a keyboard and USB port to retrieve higher quality pictures from digital cameras. Ahem, Apple?

In iPhone and the Cloud I Trust

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For an upcoming trip, I won’t have access to a computer which is a rarity. Instead, I’ll be relying on my iPhone with data stored in “the cloud.” The AT&T 3G network will be my access to the cloud.

I’ll be using the iPhone’s GPS along with Google Maps for directions. I hope to be blogging while on travel and will be using the WordPress iPhone app for that. I might also integrate my Twitter account with Pulpconnection via Twitter Tools so any tweet becomes a blog entry. Unfortunately, blogged pictures will be taken with the iPhone camera which ain’t the greatest. Better pictures will have to wait until later.

I haven’t completely tricked out my iPhone with geo/location or travel apps, but I have added some useful ones like this Disney park guide. Anyone have any recommendations for useful travel iPhone apps?

Amazon App for Your iPhone

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Amazon recently released Amazon Mobile, an iPhone app designed to make shopping at Amazon easier while on the go.

You can even try the experimental Amazon Remembers that lets you take a picture of an item using your iPhone and Amazon tries to match that picture with their products.

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Nuc Med Relief Via iPhone

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How do you make an infant lie still for 90 minutes while a GI test is being done using a radioactive isotope? You better have an iPhone 3G handy, that’s how.

To see how things were working on the inside, this GI test was done but badly described to us. Instead of lying down, taking a picture then go play and repeat, it was lie down for 90 minutes straight, don’t leave the table. For an infant who just woke up, lying down doing nothing for one and a half hours is crazy.

We brought DVDs and a portable player, but there was no interest. Holding on to toys provided little comfort. Then I pulled out my iPhone 3G with a segment of Sesame Street on it. Instant silence and contentment as he watched Feist sing her adapted hit, 1234.

Elmo provided some relief as well. But when replays of this Sesame Street segment started losing its appeal, a jump over to YouTube brought in more distracting material. Norah Jones and Elmo singing Don’t Know Why, Debbie Harry and Kermit singing Rainbow Connection, and Andrea Bocelli singing Elmo to sleep.

90 minutes and a drained iPhone battery later, relived parents say thanks Apple and Sesame Street!

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