Electronics, Part 4

Smartphone
This continues to be a good thing, generally working well. I find that in spite of the wireless capability of the phone, I'm better off not turning on wireless connectivity at work. This is because, although the hospital has free wireless, the hospital's wireless connection is dependent on opening a browser, trying to use it, after which you have to "accept" the terms of use.

Not such a big problem, but if I forget to do this, I am not getting emails, since internet connectivity is blocked until I accept those terms. Best to stay on 3G and not have to think about it. There's hell to pay for missing pages for hours on end.

I have cut back services as promised. Since I was using something like 75MB of the unlimited internet usage, I cut that back to the lowest possible, 150MB per month. Also cut back on unlimited texting, since I was texting maybe 20-30 times a month. A $5 plan works well. And finally cut back on call minutes to the lowest number -- hardly ever use it for calling/answering a call.

I've started using my phone as my alarm clock when my little battery-operated one died. Very easy to set up, and I could find a quiet little tune to wake up to. A nice thing is that it can be set to work once, M-F, or 7 days a week.

Kindle
I've fallen off in use, but have read a few things since Moby Dick, like The Importance of Being Earnest, a quite funny play by Oscar Wilde. Am currently working on a German classic, Effi Briest to try to brush up on my German (slow going). I actually paid for a book from Amazon, Crucial Conversations, which I would recommend. I also have A Tale of Two Cities, The Time Machine, and an Agatha Christie novel lined up -- all downloaded from Project Gutenberg.

Lenovo Laptop
This continues to work well. Recently the hospital shocked (yes, shocked!) me by suddenly announcing that remote access to the system was now going to be through a Citrix client, and (drum roll please) there were clients available for Linux and even Android phones! I thought I was going to have to start breathing into a paper bag. As you might imagine, accessing a computer hospital chart on a phone is a bit cramped, but for selected situations, it could be useful, since I virtually always have my phone with me.