Well, I found out why the new apps I've added to my android phone don't show up on the screen. It seem that when you put an app in a folder, it still counts as an icon on the main screen. So if you add an app it won't display even though the screen is empty of other apps... the OS thinks the screen i s full. Very strange. I got an app that gives me more home screens, so that problem should be gone. If this behavior is documented in the User's Guide, I missed it.

On a non-related note, my 2007 Honda Civic is incredibly noisy. The amount of road noise on some surfaces (mainly chip seal roads) is incredible. My 1997 Volvo was virtually silent, and I miss it.

I've ordered the under-hood nose/heat pad that the more expensive Civics have as standard. We'll see if that makes any difference. I also have some stuff I bought at Home Depot that can be used inside door panels and other areas to absorb/dampen noise. I may have to wait for the weather to warm up a bit before I try to install it.

It took a while, but I've finally got my new phone working pretty much as I want it. The only thing that really still bugs me is that Android phones, at least the ones from Virgin Mobile, come with a severely limited amount of memory. It's hard to put very many apps on them without running out of memory and causing the thing to stop getting emails, etc. It's pitiful. VM puts a number of apps on it that I don't want or need, and they cannot be removed, making the lack of memory even more onerous. The iPhone doesn't have this problem (I wish I could afford one).

The Android OS is OK. Nothing to write home about. It does the job, but it's not very elegant. Some of the apps I've bought don't show up on the home page and I don't have a clue as to why this is. I've had to go in and use an app to put them into folders so they will show up there and I can use them. Annoying.

I could leave the iPod touch at home most of the time if the same apps were available for the Android OS. The three I miss the most are Maltin's Movie Guide, Geosphere, and MotionX GPS.