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View Full Version : Are You Mobile Blogging (Moblogging)?


Jason Dunn
07-29-2003, 04:55 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://seanalex.textamerica.com/' target='_blank'>http://seanalex.textamerica.com/</a><br /><br /></div>I can't remember where I <a href="http://seanalex.textamerica.com/">found this site</a>, but I thought it was cool for two reasons: one, it's neat to see a proud father capturing snapshots of his child's life, and it's even cooler to see him doing it using a Smartphone! :D <br /><br />So this brings up the question - is anyone here doing a mobile blog with their Smartphone? If so, what did it take for you to set it up, and how does it work? I like the concept of it, but I'm not sure where to start.

encece
07-29-2003, 05:38 PM
I just signed up for it. What a cool service. at http://www.textamerica.com !!!

I left my camera at work but I'll take some pics later and post them at http://encece.textamerica.com

Mike Temporale
07-29-2003, 06:18 PM
I like the concept of it, but I'm not sure where to start.

I don't have a smartphone, yet. But isn't this just a configuration issue? My understanding is that you can configure the phone/camera to automatically upload pictures to a given URL. Is this not the case?

Then the server would just save the incoming file. The display pages are no different.

EDIT --> It uses email, not a URL. Sorry.

TANKERx
07-29-2003, 06:42 PM
Been using it for quite some time now (see my Sig) and it's great.

Get a community of your mates together and you can have a laugh. Kind of "Hey! Catherine! Remember the birthday bash we had for Stephanie? Well, the photos are on tankerx.textamerica.com".

You soon get e-mails saying "Oh no! Did I look like that!?".

Anyway, it's really handy for personal reminiscing as well and being able to send straight from the phone (whether SYmbian or Microsoft) it well handy.

The only problem I have though is that when I send from my SPV, the text has = equals signs= throughout and I= have to go and edit= it later.

encece
07-29-2003, 06:49 PM
Is there a way to do this on a personal site without using the service?
What would I need to do to be able to email text entries and/or photos to my website and be automatically updated?

Mike Temporale
07-29-2003, 07:48 PM
Is there a way to do this on a personal site without using the service?
What would I need to do to be able to email text entries and/or photos to my website and be automatically updated?

Sure.

1) setup a special email account just for receving the pictures.
2) you'll need a service or cron job to check for new mail at the newly created email address.
3) when new mail arrives, parse it for subject, comments, and save the picture.
4) update your tables with the new info
5) your done.

Now if it's not your server, you will have a hard time setting up a cron job/service. In this case, just create a web page that does nothing else except the steps outlined, and returns nothing. So you just send the email, then hit the "special" web page, and it's done.

scottmag
07-29-2003, 07:57 PM
I've seen a few discussions on this and it may well become a powerful social phenomenon. Just as influential bloggers like Andrew Sullivan can take on the establishment media like the NY Times and the BBC, mobile bloggers (mobloggers) can scoop the news media by publishing instantly anywhere and everywhere. Think of the implications in crime prevention. Not to veer off course into political waters, but gun ownership advocates argue that the proliferation of guns and widespread permits to carry firearms would deter crime because criminals would begin to suspect that victims or bystanders could be armed. Now the camera phone becomes that new citizens' weapon. Any criminal can now be caught in the act and have his picture "published" before he rounds the corner.

On the downside are privacy concerns. Various perverts will usher in a new era of voyeuristic intimidation. Anyone with an ax to grind can publish embarrassing details of what you thought were relatively private moments. The old adage about 15 minutes of fame could become a nightmare.

But then again, maybe we will all put up nice pictures of our families and moblogs will replace the boring vacation pictures we push on coworkers.

Scott

greenmozart
07-29-2003, 08:08 PM
As with anything there will be benefits and people who abuse the tools/system. You have to take the good with the bad in most cases. I personally love the idea and would like to set up a moblog once I have the necessary hardware. One of the things that I love about the internet is the way it lets us keep in touch with remote friends/family so easily. This is just the next cool step in that evolution... and one more way for me to express my esoteric geekdom. :halfrobot:

encece
07-29-2003, 08:09 PM
Is there a way to do this on a personal site without using the service?
What would I need to do to be able to email text entries and/or photos to my website and be automatically updated?

Sure.

1) setup a special email account just for receving the pictures.
2) you'll need a service or cron job to check for new mail at the newly created email address.
3) when new mail arrives, parse it for subject, comments, and save the picture.
4) update your tables with the new info
5) your done.

Now if it's not your server, you will have a hard time setting up a cron job/service. In this case, just create a web page that does nothing else except the steps outlined, and returns nothing. So you just send the email, then hit the "special" web page, and it's done.

BlueRocket:
I've been teaching myself flash and some html for about a year now. But I know nothing about server side stuff other than a few PHP scripts in flash. At the risk of getting way off topic here...could you point me in the right direction to learn how to do this particular task. PM would be better than here I guess!
Thanks.

Chronos
07-29-2003, 10:01 PM
Nick,

I'm signed up too. Too cool! Great way for the 'rents and relatives/friends to keep up with the antics of the two kids.

Did you check out this page of their site? http://www.textamerica.com/kb_main.asp?article=34

Discusses how to set up your page.

TANKERx
07-29-2003, 10:15 PM
Somethine else that really cool is that TextAmerica has a facility whereby you can post the latest image on your moblog on any other site. So if you have a regular Blog, you can have your latest Moblog photo posted there with a link to your moblog.

encece
07-29-2003, 10:48 PM
I have a page on their site setup...only one test pic so far (I left my camera at work...i did email my backdrop to the site and it worked great!)
http://encece.textamerica.com

I think I'd rather learn how to do this on my own site...which is a constant work in progress....that I can never get to finishing without changing the whole thing (this is my 10 version...I actually used to have content!)
http://www.encece.com

But I would like to be able to enter blog info and pics to whatever my site turns out to be...in the same mobile manner.

I'm just looking for someone to point me in the right direction to do just that!

Robert Levy
07-29-2003, 10:58 PM
I can't remember where I found this site (http://seanalex.textamerica.com/), but I thought it was cool for two reasons:

I think I sent you that link a while back... it's by Sean Alexander who works at Microsoft.

spg
07-29-2003, 11:01 PM
I've been signed up for a couple weeks now (http://spg.textamerica.com)... but I don't have a smartphone yet. :) I'm all set and ready when it gets here though... in the meantime I'll have to stick with my digital camera and sending e-mail from my Tablet PC.

spg
07-29-2003, 11:07 PM
I think I'd rather learn how to do this on my own site...which is a constant work in progress....that I can never get to finishing without changing the whole thing (this is my 10 version...I actually used to have content!)
http://www.encece.com

But I would like to be able to enter blog info and pics to whatever my site turns out to be...in the same mobile manner.
Well, I don't have it on my site actually, but I have customized my Moblog with my own template so it looks like it is part of my site. Still, I would rather actually be hosting it myself, but as of right now I don't think there is any premade solution for that out there. If you paid me enough I might develop it for you... but Moblogs aren't high on my development list right now. :lol:

Also, speaking of Moblogs, there was an article about them on ABCNews.com today - http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/FutureTech/moblogging030729.html

encece
07-29-2003, 11:54 PM
A young college student in Singapore is being berated by the teacher for unacceptable work. In a fit of rage, the teacher tears up the hapless student's paper in front of the whole class....
....the fuss came about because a tech-savvy fellow classmate clandestinely captured photos of the questionable chastisement — and instantly published them on the Web using just his cell phone.


School would be over and the floor swept AND mopped AND dried before the SPV actually snapped the picture! :D They have to work on that!

Robert Levy
07-30-2003, 04:06 AM
A young college student in Singapore is being berated by the teacher for unacceptable work. In a fit of rage, the teacher tears up the hapless student's paper in front of the whole class....
....the fuss came about because a tech-savvy fellow classmate clandestinely captured photos of the questionable chastisement — and instantly published them on the Web using just his cell phone.


School would be over and the floor swept AND mopped AND dried before the SPV actually snapped the picture! :D They have to work on that!

LOL! I can happily say that the lousy camera speed is a limitation of the HTC hardware and that the MiTAC's camera is super fast... probably related to the fact that the HTC devices use a TI processor and the MiTAC uses Intel's XScale chip.

encece
07-30-2003, 05:17 AM
Are you saying that you have a Mitac? Fess Up!

Robert Levy
07-30-2003, 02:06 PM
Are you saying that you have a Mitac? Fess Up!

I wish ;) I just got to play with the one Intel had on display at MDC a few months ago.

encece
07-30-2003, 02:12 PM
:cry: I thought you had something up your sleeve! Darn!