NearToTheSky's ramblings

New phone

So, I got this smartphone thing

My previous phone lasted for about 3 years, and was really getting unusable; thus I decided to get a new one.
I got the Galaxy Notes 2 from Samsung and I have to say I'm rather pleased with it.

Up to now, I've shied away from Android phones because of the whole issue with Google and privacy and in general I've not been very impressed with smart phone input capabilities (I have clumsy fingers). So I was quite happy to find this phone, that is big enough to let me reliably hit the keys I want on the on-screen keyboard. Since I needed a new phone anyway and that it's hard finding a phone with wireless support (which I like to have for tethering) that isn't a smartphone, I just went with it. And as I said I don't regret it.

Firstly, the handwriting recognition actually succeeds at interpreting my less than stellar handwriting sufficiently often that it's usable; which is almost better than what a human can manage.

Privacy is actually a little of an issue since a Gmail account is needed to access the app store but apparently I'll have to live with that. I had an old Gmail account laying around anyway and I figure that not using any of the Google provided apps on the phone should keep me safe.
Now, I know many people out there think that using Android without the google services and the "cloud" is pointless, but I think that's a strange attitude to have. I have my own mail server that I can access over IMAP, I can upload pictures directly to my webserver via SFTP and there are plenty of alternatives to Gtalk for communicating with people. The only thing I'm still investigating is what options I have for synching my calendar with my own server. I've read somewhere that it can be done by setting up exchange, but that seems a little cumbersome. I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually.
Also, most of the apps I needed up to now were free, which is nice. I only payed for DroidEdit and that was cheap enough.
Lastly, I have full access to my LAN through OpenVPN and can access my computer over RDesktop.

I will see how this works out in the long run, but for now, it's a very convenient tool to have when I am on the move. At least, I'm getting a chance to improve my handwriting.

(obviously, posted from my phone; at the exception of the picture, for obvious reason)