So about 2 weeks ago, I ordered a Nokia 6126 from Amazon.com. Not particularly cheap since I bought it without a service contract. But it also came without any carrier restrictions which would cause it to be only usable on one carrier's network, and without any carrier modifications -- something that I really wanted.

It's a very nice phone. Not perfect, but it's great for what I want it to do - remind me of meetings, keep my contacts available to me, and to make phone calls. I've used a Sony Ericsson Z520a and a Nokia 6682 in the past year. The Z520a was just junk - coupled with very poor Sony Ericsson customer service. The 6682 was nice, but overkill. I really didn't need the phone to read PDF files for me.... The 6126 is the same size as the Z520a even though it looks bigger than that.

The user interface on the phone (Nokia Series40 3rd edition) is typically Nokia. Very nice and intuitive. Nokia and Sony Ericsson have the two best UI designs I think. Motorola is way at the bottom. The 6126 feels solid. There's a button on the side that will cause the flip to open on its own like a Star Trek Communicator.

The phone syncs with my Mac via iSync. There's a hack you need to make it work, and then, it suffers from the same iSync bug that plagues all other Series 40 3rd edition phones in that syncs street address information into a note instead of the AddressBook field. I guess they'll fix that someday. Works well enough for me right now. Bluetooth transfer rates are great. And the Bluetooth headset I have (Sony Ericsson HBH-608) works just fine with the phone. Sound quality is good. It holds calls very well, even in my house which has notoriously poor reception. Data transfer is good as far as I've tried. Since I don't have a data plan, this feature isn't going to get tested. I'm not interested in the bill....

The camera is average. It likes a lot of light. If it's too dark, things look grainy. But it doesn't take infinite numbers of pictures of pocket lint like the Z520a was prone to do (due to the poor camera button design on the side).

The battery is a little disappointing. It's on par with my previous Nokia 6682, but it's behind the Sony Ericsson Z520a. I was hoping for a little better.

The phone's display is gorgeous. Large with good resolution, contrast, and color. But I'm also probably paying the price as a result with the shortened battery life.

I'm a little irritated that they changed the power plug type to a new style. I had a lot of old Nokia chargers lying around. However, unlike Sony Ericsson, you can buy an adapter from Nokia to enable the use of all your old chargers. I need to get me one of those.

I love the fact that the phone is unlocked and "as shipped" from Nokia. There's no annoying "customizations" like T-Mobile has put on their version of the 6126 (which is called the 6133) which, for example, cause MP3 files not to be usable as ring tones. There's also no attempt to divert you to your carrier's website to buy stuff like games, surf the net, or do other things that add up to more $$$ for them.

I'm so far very happy with the Nokia 6126, even with the extra cost of buying it unlocked.

Many years ago, I met my good friend Geoff Walton while pumping gas at a Chevron gas station in Pacific Beach, CA. We were introduced because of the license plate he had on this primer colored BMW 2002 - SETUID0.

If you don't know what it means, ask someone who has played around with UNIX too much.

I've always thought the plate was cool. I finally did something about it.



So now there's two green convertibles in the US running around with the same license plate (though Geoff has a Porsche now - he's clearly ahead of me...) Thanks Geoff for letting me plagiarize.

While on a recent business trip, I took the following picture:



Let's itemize:

- 1 Mac PowerBook G4 being charged by an iGo Juice Unit
- 1 Nokia 6126 being recharged off the iGo Juice Unit aux power port
- 1 30GB Video iPod being charged off the USB of the PowerBook
- 1 Blackberry 7290 being charged off the USB of the PowerBook
- 1 Canon S50 digital camera (not shown - it was taking a picture) charging off the wall

Glad there was no shortage of electricity...

Stay tuned for a review on the Nokia 6126. I just purchased one from Amazon.com and it's on its way to my house as we speak.

Hopefully this one doesn't take pictures at random or have any other firmware glitches.

I've finally just about had it with my Sony Ericsson Z520a.

When I got this phone a year ago, I had 2 straight months of absolute heck with this phone. It had a firmware defect that essentially caused the phone to freeze or otherwise do strange things within 24 hours. Sony Ericsson had the worst customer service response - in that they refused to acknowledge the defect and considered it "normal" to have to remove the battery every 24 hours to reset the phone (because often the phone was too screwed up to allow it to power off via the power switch). Because of that experience, I've said my next phone will *not* be a Sony Ericsson device.

Finally, Cingular, who sold me the phone, was able to get Sony Ericsson to produce a firmware update which resolved this problem. And the problem turned out to be caused by a condition which pathologically existed at my house.

In addition to that particular annoyance (which made for a very unreliable phone) the phone has a design flaw. It has a very low resistance spring in the button on the side which activates the camera. And the button is strategically placed so your finger always bumps into it while carrying on a call. So you're constantly activating the camera and snapping unintended pictures.

Lately, this problem has been getting worse and it seems like the camera is activating at random. It sometimes makes for an interesting game - figure out where you were when you unintentionally took a picture. A few times, I have lucked out because the camera went off in places it really shouldn't have.

If the camera were halfway decent, it might be one thing. This camera is far from it. And now, having to go and clear out a dozen pictures every few days has meant I've had enough. It's time for a new phone.

The front runner is the Nokia 6126. I'll probably pay more and buy it directly from Nokia or somewhere not Cingular in order to get one that is not carrier locked and not customized by Cingular. Cingular seems to have this horrible reputation for screwing up perfectly good phones with their customizations. Time to try one without them. The last phone I purchased this way was a Sony Ericsson Z600. An awesome phone. I would still be using it today if it supported the 850MHz band and had slightly better reception.

I think I will ask my wife for permission to acquire a 6126 and see what happens.

The more I read about the story of the Amish shootings in Pennsylvania, the more I am simply amazed at the Faith these families have, and the attitudes they are showing, especially to the family of the gunman.


From CNN:
Welk (grandfather-in-law of the shooter) said he had met Tuesday with family members of one of the dead girls, 13-year-old Marian Fisher, for about 30 to 45 minutes. Hess (Welk's daughter) accompanied her father to the meeting, and said family members embraced them.

"They were very consoling," Hess said. "They offered us their sympathy. They let us know that there was no hard feelings. They felt more sorrow for us because of what we were going through, than what they were going through."


From FoxNews:
Though the Amish generally do not seek help from outside their community, Kevin King, executive director of Mennonite Disaster services, an agency managing the donations, quoted an Amish bishop as saying: "We are not asking for funds. In fact, it's wrong for us to ask. But we will accept them with humility."

At the behest of Amish leaders, a fund has also been set up for the killer's widow and three children.


From the BBC:
A Roberts family spokesman said an Amish neighbour had also comforted the family hours after the shooting - and extended forgiveness to them.

"I hope they stay around here and they'll have a lot of friends and a lot of support," said Daniel Esh, an Amish artist whose grand-nephews were inside the school at the start of the attack.


I don't think many would say much if the Amish had come out angry at the gunman who took the lives of these children. The fact that not only are they not outwardly showing anger, but are reaching out to the family of the person who harmed them is just so out of place with what we've come to expect from people today.

I really hope people reading this learn from the example being set here.

Forgiveness is a personal and difficult topic, no matter what your beliefs. Especially when it comes to the matter of tragic deaths.

A tragic shooting at an Amish School not far from where I used to live happened on Monday. Having lived near the Amish for 7 years while my wife was going through her Residency, I came to appreciate these very private people. After reading this article on CNN, I'm more and more convinced that these folks have the right idea.

To quote from CNN:

PARADISE, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- A grieving grandfather told young relatives not to hate the gunman who killed five girls in an Amish schoolhouse massacre, a pastor said on Wednesday.

"As we were standing next to the body of this 13-year-old girl, the grandfather was tutoring the young boys, he was making a point, just saying to the family, 'We must not think evil of this man,'" the Rev. Robert Schenck told CNN.

"It was one of the most touching things I have seen in 25 years of Christian ministry."

End quote.

This grandfather has it right. What an example, and what words of wisdom under horribly painful circumstances. We don't understand why things like this happen. But so often we fail to teach that revenge and anger aren't always the most constructive responses to things like this.

I'm certainly not a pacifist. However, I really feel this is the right answer to be teaching these affected children at this stage. There's no constructive purpose in breeding hatred into a generation. I truly admire this grandfather for teaching this. If only others in other parts of the world had had this insight, perhaps the world would not be the mess it is today.