the return of hbmobile.org

so i'm in the process of turning the hbmobile.org web site back on, and i'm going back to spending my spare time making gadgets. there's a big long story behind this, so let's take it piece by piece.

i work for klout.com right now, but for a big chunk of my career, i worked for companies in the mobile value chain. most of the time i worked there, i wondered "why do mobile phones suck so hard?"

we all have some pretty great phones available to us at the moment, so it's easy to forget: before the iPhone and Android OS, being a developer on a mobile device was expensive, difficult and frustrating. expensive 'cause you frequently had to pay tens of thousands of dollars for development systems before you could even begin to start developing a mobile app. difficult 'cause you had to learn an entirely new operating system and dev platform and frustrating 'cause the mobile OS vendor, handset manufacturer or carrier would frequently hobble your app beyond recognition.

back before Android and iPhone, a bunch of us hobbled together our own DIY phones without these problems. Surj Patel and Deva Seetharam put together a "TuxPhone" back in 2005-2006. I spent some time putting bits of hardware and software together in 2006, while Craig Hughes and Gordon Kruberg of gumstix.com did some heavy lifting, building a GumStix daughterboard populated with a mobile phone chipset.

we also had this group called "the homebrew mobile phone club." modeled on the earlier "homebrew computer club," the idea was to provide support and encouragement for people building their own devices.

in 2008, the group fell apart. partially 'cause i had to concentrate on getting divorced. but also 'cause we were getting more or less what we wanted from the mobile industry. the iPhone and Android used familiar operating systems and well known development tools; you didn't have to pay google or apple insane amounts of cash for dev systems and you more or less had access to all of the phone's hardware.

for the most part we declared victory and moved on with our lives.

we did do a lot of very cool stuff. Adrian Cockroft used the "myPhone" project as an excuse to learn how to develop enclosures for mobile devices. i wrote a hack of a lot of control software for GSM modems. and Craig & Gordon did an insanely good job of developing open hardware that could send and receive phone calls and text messages. James Young saved our old wiki at the hbmobile.org backup; go check it out, there's a lot of cool stuff there.

sure... it's not that big of a deal when you compare it to what HTC and LG do, but remember, we were a bunch of individuals with soldering irons, extra cash and a few extra hours per week. we proved you didn't HAVE to be a multi-billion dollar company to build a mobile phone.

that the myPhone was more expensive than a subsidized iPhone, and had fewer apps than Symbian was not the point. the point was, we were able to build it on our own. we also shared as much as we could, using open source and creative common licenses for most system components. (read my blurb for O'Reilly called "the complete open phone" for the rationale behind this decision.)

so... we did a lot of cool stuff and moved on with our lives.

but now i'm reactivating the hbmobile.org domain to work on a new project.

AT&T has announced they're going to buy T-Mobile. This is a bad deal for everyone (except AT&T share-holders.) Om Malik has a great blog post on why it's a bad deal here: "In AT&T and T-Mobile Merger, Everybody Loses."

for the last year i've been worried by moves from the carriers: price increases, charging for tethering, wireless bandwidth caps, etc. and now we're falling towards monopoly in the GSM world.

i'm going to spend my spare time for the next couple months trying to solve the "quality communications services over unlicensed spectrum" problem. i'm not trying to dislodge AT&T or Apple or Microsoft. i'm not trying to build mobile phones that will be the next big thing at SxSW. i want to build some prototypes of systems that sidestep licensed spectrum and the problems of carving it up and giving it to monopolies.

if you're interested, take a look at the new hbmobile.org site. subscribe to my blog feed and consider listening to my rants on twitter.

if it makes sense, i'll also be hosting meetings in san francisco (and in second life.) stay tuned!

radiation monitoring station

so sparkfun.com has this geiger counter device i've been eyeing for a year or two. (actually, i think this is an updated version of the one i was lusting over.) and now that we've apparently had an explosion at Fukushima 1, i believe we'll see an increase in environmental radiation. fwiw, someone posted a video of the explosion, if you haven't seen it already.

my college friend wilbur related to me that during the chernobyl meltdown in the 80's, his high school science teacher tracked the rise and decay of environmental radiation. that always seemed like a fun project to me. sort of like a weather station, but in touch with current events.

anyway, so i'm going to order one of these things tomorrow night. if we can get 10 people in the bay area, we could even do a group buy (ping me on twitter at @OhMeadhbh.) but i think tomorrow i'll be setting up a website to track decay events and map them on a google map.

cheers!

driving in dallas

my mom just forwarded this one to me as part of an explanation for why the rest of the family is frightened by her driving... her excuse: "i learned to drive in dallas." i tried figuring out who wrote this, but no luck. if it's yours, please ping me so i can give proper attribution.

First you must learn to pronounce the city name. It is DAL-LUS, or DAA-LIS depending on if you live inside or outside LBJ Freeway.

Next, if your Mapsco is more than a few weeks old, throw it out and buy a new one. If in Denton County and your Mapsco is one-day-old, then it is already obsolete. Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere. (Frisco has screwed everything up.)

Dallas has its own version of traffic rules... "Hold on and pray."

There is no such thing as a dangerous high-speed chase in Dallas . We all drive like that.

All directions start with, "Get on Beltline," which has no beginning and no end. (It REALLY DOESN'T!!!)

The morning rush hour is from 6 to 10. The evening rush hour is from 3 to 7. Friday's rush hour starts Thursday morning.

If you actually stop at a yellow light, you will be rear-ended, cussed out and possibly shot. When you are the first one on the starting line, count to five when the light turns green before going to avoid crashing with all the drivers running the red light in cross-traffic.

Construction on Central Expressway is a way of life and a permanent form of entertainment. We had sooo much fun with that, we have added George Bush Freeway and the High Five to the mix.

All unexplained sights are explained by the phrase, "Oh, we're in Fort Worth !"

If someone actually has his or her turn signal on, it is probably a factory defect. Car horns are actually "Road Rage" indicators - and remember, it's legal to be armed in Texas ..

All old ladies with blue hair in a Mercedes have the right of way. Period. And remember, it's legal to be armed in Texas ..

Inwood Road, Plano Road, NW Highway, East Grand, Garland Road, Marsh Lane, Josey Lane, 15th Street, Preston Road all mysteriously change names as you cross intersections (these are only a FEW examples). The perfect example is what is MOSTLY known as Plano Road . On the south end, it is known as Lake Highlands Drive, cross Northwest Highway and it becomes Plano Road, go about 8 miles and it is briefly Greenville Ave, Ave K, and Highway 5. It ends in Sherman ...

The North Dallas Tollway is our daily version of NASCAR. The minimum acceptable speed on the Dallas North Toll Road is 85 mph. Anything less is considered downright sissy. It also ends in Sherman .

If asking directions in Irving or SE Dallas , you must have knowledge of Spanish. If in central Richardson or on Harry Hines, Mandarin Chinese will be your best bet. If you stop to ask directions on Gaston or Live Oak, you better be armed... and remember, it's legal to be armed in Texas

The wrought iron on windows near Oak Cliff and Fair Park is not ornamental!!

A trip across town east to west will take a minimum of four hours, although many north/south freeways have unposted minimum speeds of 75.

It is possible to be driving WEST in the NORTH-bound lane of EAST NORTHWEST Highway . Don't let this confuse you.

LBJ is called "The Death Trap" for two reasons: "death" and "trap."

If it's 100 degrees, Thanksgiving must be next weekend. If it's 10 degrees and sleeting/snowing, the Fort Worth Stock Show is going on. If it has rained 6 inches in the last hour, the Byron Nelson Golf Classic is in the second round (if it's Spring) - and it is the Texas State Fair if it's Fall.

If you go to the Fair, pay the $8.00 to park INSIDE Fair Park . Parking elsewhere could cost up to $2500 for damages, towing fees, parking tickets, and possibly a gunshot wound. If some guy with a flag tries to get you to park in his yard, run over him.

Any amusement parks, stadiums, arenas, racetracks, airports, etc., are conveniently located as far away from EVERYTHING as possible so as to allow for ample parking on grassy areas.

Final Warning: Don't Mess With Texas Drivers ... remember, it's legal to Be armed in Texas