Thursday, February 10, 2005

Success! (mostly)

Ha! Now I should be able to update this blog from Germany using just my handheld PDA! And all I'll need is a WiFi connection and the small ftp program loaded on "Sammy" that enables me to upload photos to the frinkenstein server. The secret was to turn off the "wysiwyg" editing option on Blogger. Doing so allows me to type posts in straight HTML, and thus I can enter the URL for my uploaded photos. With "wysiwyg" turned on, my Pocket PC version of Internet Explorer was unable to "see" the buttons that allow bloggers to switch back and forth between "compose" mode and "html" mode.

There are a few drawbacks: With the "wysiwyg" editor turned off, I can't adjust the size of the photos while typing the post (note giant Buddy photo below.) So I'll have to pay close attention to size of the photos before I upload them. There may be a way to resize photos on the handheld, but if so I haven't discovered it. Also, when I tried to post a follow-up last night using Sammy, for some reason I could only type a paragraph or so, and then the Pocket Internet Explorer browser cleared and I lost my post. It's unclear at this point if that's a Blogger problem, a browser problem or pilot error. (I'm typing this post on my laptop). So a little more experimentation is necessary. But so far, so good! And it's very cool to think that I can update my blog with just "Sammy," and, for convenience, my little flexible keyboard. I shall look quite geeky sitting in a coffee shop with my dinky handheld and keyboard -- but the entire rig will weight about a pound and fit into a coat pocket!

Okay, I promise that future posts will be less geeky and more interesting!

2 comments:

The Limey said...

Ok, you need to take the Geek test now. I'll get the good Doctor Lizardo to email it.

Andrew said...

Thanks for the offer...Dr. Lizardo sent a copy of the test to me a few days ago, I just haven't taken it yet. Some actual work showed up (writing catalog copy for a friend's business) but I promise to post the results of the geek test as soon as I take it!