Springtime, tulips, and Windows Mobile |
| | After spending a long winter indoors, I’m always anxious to get outside come springtime—me and
the rest of the planet. Which is probably why annual spring rites, such as garden shows, Easter-egg hunts,
and other spring festivities, exist the world over: to satisfy the human need to expose chilled bones to
warming rays. |
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 Tulips in bloom |
Here in the Pacific Northwest, we celebrate the tulip bloom. Each spring, the Skagit Valley, north of Seattle,
erupts with color (and sightseers) when tulips, daffodils, and irises reach for the sun. Over the years, events
have coalesced into the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival—which I inevitably miss.
But not this year, not with the help of Windows Mobile. No more could-, would-, or should-haves. This year I
will experience the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in all its color and sunshine. As van Gogh is my
witness!
The procedures in this article were written using a Samsung Omnia with Windows Mobile 6.1 from Verizon Wireless. While most Windows Mobile phones work the same way, slight differences may exist. Refer to your phone’s documentation for device-specific details. |
| Reminding myself | Usually, sometime in February, when winter weighs heavy, I think longingly of spring and the festival. Then I get distracted by life and don’t think about it again until May or so, when the tulips have come and gone. D’oh! So this February, when the thought entered my mind, I created an appointment in Calendar. That’ll teach me.
To create an appointment in Calendar:
| Click or tap Start > Calendar. Navigate to the date when you want to be reminded. Click Month/Week/Day/Agenda/Year in the lower-left corner to change the display period to the view you want. Click Menu > New Appointment. Enter the required information, specify the Reminder settings, and then click OK.
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| Calendar is now set to remind me daily, starting on April 15. Since I set the reminder early (5:00 A.M.), there
should be a reminder waiting for me each morning. Reminders pop up on my screen, accompanied by the
sound I assigned. |
| Tip If you don’t use Calendar, create a reminder using Tasks (click Start > Tasks.) |
| Bookmarking the festival’s web site | For outdoor festivals and fairs, timing is everything. Ideally, you want to pick the best day, weather-wise, during the event’s run. Or you may need to plan your attendance around a headliner or special show. At the Tulip Fest, the bloom reigns supreme. I’m thinking I have a two-week window to catch the best color.
Luckily, the festival organizers maintain a web site, complete with a bloom map. I bookmarked the map
(updated daily during the festival) awhile back. Since Calendar reminds me, I’ve been monitoring the map daily.
To create a bookmark:
| Click Start > Programs > Internet Explorer. Navigate to a web page, and then click Menu > Add to Favorites. If desired, edit the Name and Create in fields. Click OK.
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Tip Sync your phone to your PC to automatically update your Favorites on your PC. That way, if you’d like to check the
bloom map when you’re on your PC, the link will be there.
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| To view a bookmarked page
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| Navigating to the fields | Though I know the fabled fields grow north of Seattle, I can use a bit of help finding their exact location. With
Windows Live Search for Windows Mobile, I can easily get driving directions. |
| | To get directions using Windows Live Search:
| Click Start > Programs > Live Search. Click Directions (the Steering wheel icon.) Update your Start and End cities, as necessary. Live Search populates the Start position with your current city. Click New ending location to set your destination. Click Route. Live Search displays directions in the Route Summary. Scroll through points in the list to view relevant notes. Click Map to view the selected point on a street map.
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| Capturing the colors | Outdoor gatherings offer great photo ops, and the tulip fest is no exception—geometrical patches of color set
beneath snow-capped mountains. It’s time to put my phone’s 5-megapixel camera through its paces. I
capture both landscapes and in-your-face macro shots, quickly adjusting settings as I go.
Next time you’re at an outdoor event, see what you can capture using your camera’s phone. The settings are quick to access and easy to understand.
To change your camera’s settings:
| Click Start > Camera. The viewfinder appears, displaying information and icons. Click Settings (the Wrench icon) to view your camera’s options. For outdoor shooting, customize the following settings (not all phones have all options): White balance is set according to the light source. Click the Daylight or Outdoor setting. Scene or Mode specifies the shooting conditions. Click Landscape. AF or Focus can be set according to the subject. Use Auto for your landscape shots and Macro for your close-ups. Resolution sets the pixel size of the captured images. If you’ll be editing your pictures later (especially if you crop them), use the highest setting. If you’re short on storage space, consider a smaller size—the smaller file sizes not only save space but are also perfectly suited for e-mailing or posting to a blog.
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| Tip Experiment with video, too. Record your family and friends frolicking (or sulking) among the bulbs. |
| Finding lunch | By about 1:00 P.M., I’d taken all the pictures I could manage. Time for some lunch. Looking across the fields and
seeing only barns and silos, I held out little hope of finding satisfactory eats. Still, I thought I’d see what Live Search could find out here. I was pleasantly surprised to see I had the choice of Mexican, Italian,
BBQ, or even Thai.
To find restaurants using Live Search:
| Click Start > Programs > Live Search. Click Categories > Restaurants > All Restaurants. (You may need to click Change Location if you haven’t updated your location.) Review the list of restaurants. Click a restaurant to call it or get directions.
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| Sharing the warmth | While munching on Pad Thai a few minutes later, I thumbed through the shots I’d taken. Not too bad. I found
one perfect for Mom, along with a macro shot that would work well for my Today screen background.
By the time I’d finished lunch, I’d e-mailed my mom (what a good son) and set one of the pictures as my Today screen background (after a bit of cropping to get just the part I wanted.)
To e-mail a picture:
| Click Start > Pictures & Videos, and then click the picture you want to send. (You can also open an image in another photo-viewing application.) Click Menu > Send > as E-mail. Windows creates a new e-mail with the image attached. Complete the e-mail, and click Send.
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| To set a picture as the Today screen background:
| Click Start > Pictures & Videos, and then click the picture you want to use as the background. (You can also open an image in another photo-viewing application.) Click Menu > Set as > Today Background.
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| With help from Windows Mobile, I’d finally seen the bloom. Using Calendar and Live Search, I not only
managed to attend the event but also to find direction and sustenance along the way. And my phone’s built-in
camera let me record my outing. With Windows Mobile, I need never miss spring again. |
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 Photo of Skagit Valley tulips in bloom, taken with a Windows Mobile phone. |
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