Sorry about the delay in posting, but work has just been too hectic in the last few days. Between firing some dirty people (who confessed to stealing well over $2000 worth of product) and severe over-working (I clocked just under 13 hours yesterday - not counting the hour and a half break I took) anything other than sleep just wasn't an option. But now, I am rested and relaxed and the blogging will resume . . . NOW!
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We have two topics to cover today: The hidden powers of GMail, and the full potential of the PSP.

First, let's talk about GMail. A GMail account allows for approximately 2.5 gigabytes of online storage for emails and attachments. And, using the GMail Drive Shell Extension, you can easy upload any file under 10 megabytes and store it as an email attachment. I set myself up with a second GMail account, just for online storage, and began sending files there. Just think - you could have over 500 mp3s waiting to be downloaded from any computer or the PSP (which I'll explain in a sec) and it's all completely free!

Second, let's talk about the PSP's new firmware. I could list all of the really cool new features, but the one I want to focus on is the web browser. The PSP has always had the capability to use local wi-fi from the original launch. But until now, only people who had the Wipeout game and had hacked their PSP could open up the browser built into that game to get online. Now, anyone who has a PSP and the upgraded firmware can go online with their PSP anywhere they can get a signal (Panera, Starbucks, or anywhere there's a wireless internet router . . .) Now, the version 2.0 firmware hasn't officially been released for the US yet, but you can follow the links in this article if you want to install the japanese version. (It's not recommended by SONY, but then what is?) As I stated a few posts ago, the interface isn't always exactly user-friendly or intuitive (which could be why they've delayed the US firmware upgrade . . .), but I have learned how to use it to check email, get movie times, post blog entries, and download songs from my GMail storage.

This is the point of the whole shebang. I have a 512 megabyte storage card for my PSP, which is a lot but not as much as even a higher-end IPOD Shuffle is capable of. But, by managing songs between my online and offline storage, I can easily access over 2 gigs of mp3s without getting a bigger memory stick. And, transferring the songs is easier using the download feature of the browser than it is using a usb cable. I can't forget a file at home anymore, because anywhere there's wi-fi I can always update the files I have on the memory stick.

That's it in a nutshell. I can elaborate more if anyone wants, but for now I'm heading back out to the porch to surf the web and enjoy the outdoors. Later . . .