Molecularist

I read this post a while back and (google) bumped into it again.

Some of Steve’s wishes have been answered with Nokia Lifeblog 1.5 (out soon):

1) …anything i can do to an object in other parts of the Series 60 UI, allow me to do from the Lifeblog interface

Done. From Lifeblog, you can reply or forward messages, and send items such as images via MMS or email or Bluetooth. Just like in the Gallery, but better.

2) Sync/Upload via Bluetooth

Uh, you should be able to do that with all versions of Lifeblog. We support whatever the phone and PC mutually support – cable or Bluetooth synch.

3) ability to add notes for that day

Done. Available in 1.5. Really cool too when you add a bluetooth keyboard to the mix. It was one of those features I would not negotiate on. It is a diary.

4) calendar widget integration…isn’t this really just an extension of a calendar view?

Uh… not in Lifeblog 1.5. Sorry.

5) upload to a server – i understand this isn’t a moblogging tool, but it sure could be a cool one! i’d rather just have a safe place to store everything…hell, can i send it to my iDisk somehow? i wish.

In Lifeblog 1.5 we’ve added Posting to Web via Atom. I don’t think you’ll want everything uploaded from the phone, since each image is at least 300k. That’s a long time ($$ or €€) over GPRS. But, we know you’ll want to post some stuff, so that’s why we have Post to Web (it is LifeBLOG).

I am biased, but Lifeblog is the best mobile blogging tool for me (and it’s great on the PC, too). And it’s not just that – you blog from the multimedia rather than adding multimedia items after writing all the text. It’s about sharing the multimedia, so you can post practically any Lifeblog item to your blog. That’s why I like it.

And, after you post, a little post item is placed in your Timeline. That post item has the link to the post, which you can then open to view, email or, from the phone, SMS to someone. I think that’s cool – live it, blog it, tell everyone about it.

But, hey, Lifeblog is not just about blogging. More ramblings on that another day.

Janne, from ButtUgly, found two people from my outreach program, Anina (whom I mentioned before) and a local Finnish chef my boss knows.

It’s cool that news spreads so fast, since both blogs have been up for only a few days. Well, OK, so I know Janne. I even saw him at the movies yesterday. But, he found this stuff out on his own. I didn’t tell him.

I’m not surprised, either: he’s a sharp guy.

Link: ButtUgly: Main_blogentry_151104_1.

Nonetheless, it’s so cool to see that the chef has already been posting about the
small things that make his life special. I look forward to see how his
blog and Lifeblog progress. It’s all about the story!

I have about 2 GB of digital pictures that pre-date my use
of Lifeblog (started around March 2004, right?), going back until February
1998. It’s about 6000 files in about 220 folders.

Of course, it’s hard work. I had labeled most of the folders
by date, so I know the approximate date the images were captured. But, that’s
about all the info I have. My first camera (an Apple Quick-Take 200, VGA
camera) did save some time stamp, but it doesn’t make sense sometimes. I think
because the camera didn’t know its GMT-offset, but the computer thinks it does,
I end up with a funny time reading. But, I am sure there’s more to it. Anyway,
for me, the date in most cases is more important than the exact time.

To make the process more labour intensive, some files have
lost their time stamp because they were edited in an application that didn’t
keep the time stamp. After every import there are one or two I have to look for
and move to the appropriate date, if I can guess it.

So far I haven’t started importing the images captured with
my Olympus D490Z (2 megapixels) which might do better with the time stamp. But,
I do know that, fortunately, images I import directly from a memory card from a
latter day digital camera imports perfectly well. Indeed, a friend gave me
about 200 images from a trip we had taken together. Even after he changed the
names of the files, the timestamps were intact and they all imported
flawlessly. Ufa! So, looking forward, digital camera image import is a breeze.

This leads me to the realization that one of the features I
keep begging for, nested file import, might not be the do-all end-all for file
import. I am glad I still have to do the folders one by one. I have to deal
with corrupt files, missing time stamps, missing extensions (all the images
originated on a Mac who handles files with a bit more intelligence) and so on –
it’s easier if I do it one folder at a time and keep track of the issue in a
spreadsheet. If I imported all the files at one go, then I’d have to sort out a
few hundred misplaced images (or more) without any context (which comes from
the original folder name, right?).

Go figure.

And the cool thing with Lifeblog 1.5, is that I can then
select a batch and add location information to all of them at one go. That is
part of the reason I waited for Lifeblog 1.5 before I started importing all my
old stuff. Uh, you won’t have to wait long for Lifeblog 1.5.

Tonight I slogged through some folders. I figure, this is an
occasional activity. I have all the stuff on a DVD that I always carry with me.
When I have the time, I start importing. I expect that a few months from now I
will have all my digital images in Lifeblog. After that, I am going to start
scanning and importing all the prints. And after that, I am going to digitize
all our videos and start importing that. You get the picture (no pun intended).

But, then again, I have my whole life ahead of me, and it’s
so great to see the old stuff once more.