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Epoc Digest Sat, 12 Apr 2003 Volume 01 : Number 227
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Sent to: 774 subscribers
In today's Epoc Digest 25 messages:
==============================
- Comparing OSs
- RE: French Comments
- Digest Etiquette
- Pathetic insult
- LONG! CF / Laptop Hard Drives/ Legalities / Frogs / NTFS / Dicks
- National, Ethnic & Racial Slurs
- Moderate Forum?
- 5mx spare
- Revo vs S7 (reply to Jaan Sass)
- Don't overreact to bigots
- 9210
- New EPOC software by me? ;-)
- My problem with my SanDisk has been solved (partly..)
- Re: Why a 5mx or Revo?
- Re: GPRS Free on Vodafone via a psion?
- Re: Faxing with a calling card
- SonyEricsson P800 - First impressions
- Antony's insults
- To Itamar
- Upgrading a standard 5mx to Pro
- Re: Revo to 5mx, worth the ugrade?
- Re: MX5 Lid switch, AOL, back-up query, Email on 5mx, S7 v. 5MX, Jpeg HW decomp
- Bigotry in the digest, Revo to 5mx, worth the ugrade?, Monopoly,
- Ireland: GPS: 9210:
- Re: Jpeg HW decomp
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Apr 2003 13:14:24 +0100
From: peter.rand
Subject: Comparing OSs
--
Also, what is wrong is making comparison between OSes and finding one is better in respect to one's requirements? ... I certainly do not see any "semi-religious operating system wars" going on here.
---
I agree fully with Koi Hin. What's wrong with comparing various systems - each has their own strengths and weaknesses. I could never recommend ER5 for somebody who wants to view movies in color, but I could certainly recommend ER5 for word-processing, email and things like that. I like it when others on the list bring unknown strengths and weaknesses of Psions and other platforms to my attention - it's very educational.
I find the digest provides a very good forum to discuss exactly these kinds of issues.
Peter
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Apr 2003 14:00:37 +0100
From: Antony
Subject: RE: French Comments
To: Ian Chapple
In response to: -
>Given that this digest is supposed to be purely Psion related, and given that the common concensus was that all talk of war should be kept out, I suggest that people who blatantly disregard the wishes of the Digestees and who resort to pathetic insults of others, should be removed from the list of recipients. I hope that others will back me up on this topic.
>
I have not mentioned the war. I did not even bring this up as a topic for discussion. I responded to a message requesting an explanation, which I gave honestly. I would like to mention that people entering information as 'Messages of the day' or Sig lines, regularily enter comments, quotes, remarks completely unrelated to any EPOC subject. Many people on this digest post off topic messages. Who are you to police what people say? A final note is that removing people from the digest is irrelevant as I could simply resubscribe, however, I believe censorship is a bad thing always.
To: Philip S. Adkins Potter
In response to: -
> ...
Though I doubt you will apologise to Stephane, Nicole and the other French subscribers, keeping your opinions to their proper home would indeed be better behaviour. But I doubt you'll do that either. If you continue to post such unnecessary insults few here will reply to any honest questions you may have, fewer still will have any inclination to help you. You have been warned.
But you are entitled to your opinions. It's called "Freedom of Speech". I doubt you believe it should extend beyond yourself.
<
I commend your judgement regarding my likelihood of apologising. As far as keeping my opinions to myself, may I suggest you practice what you preach? I on the other hand do believe in freedom of speech to the extent that even though I may absolutely disagree with a persons opinion, I defend their right to express it! Even yours :-)
To: Martin Guthrie
In response to: -
>Actually this raises a bigger issue. I have avoided being drawn into
some of the other 'heated' discussions as - generally speaking - I
believe that it's sometimes a healthy thing to test the limits of your freedom. There is a time for tolerance however and a time for action
and - unfortunately - I would propose that the idiot above has gone
beyond the reasonable limits whereby we are a self-regulating Digest.
Can I ask that the admin. team be prepared to moderate The Digest?<
I refer you to the points above regarding policing, off topic discussion and censorship.
p.s. Thankyou for you few kind words :-)
To:Keith Giles
In response to: >Jeez, do you belong to the KKK? ...<
No, and from what I understand, they do not have a particular issue with French people.
To: Itamar Engelsman
In response to: -
>For the sake of the international EPOC peace I suggest we stop the discussions about the French, English, Americans, etc. We all have our political opinions about may subjects, here we are united to discuss EPOC affairs (as I was correctly reminded some digests ago).<
I agree. It is not a topic I wish to discuss, but feel I should reply to comments made about me.
To: Owen Morgan
In response to: -
> ... It is his cowardly and insulting way of expressing them that offends me. (Oh, and in case anyone wondered, I'm NOT French.) ... <
It is only as cowardly as calling someone a Bigot in the same manner. If I was cowardly, I would not respond to any of the comments instead of many.
To: Michael Degn
In response to: -
>Antony, you're fully entitled to have your opinion about the French or anything else, but the Epoc Digest isn't the right place to express it. Hence I'll censure ALL future postings from you if they contain ANY insulting material.<
I had no intention of expressing my opinion about the French and have not done so except to respond to a posting requesting I elaborate. I too wish to get back to EPOC discussions, but would like to also make a point about the difference between my comment on the French and other people making reference to myself as racist, biggoted, asshole etc. Surely, these people should equally be warned about their conduct?
Quote of the day: "I would rather have a German division in front of me than a <Guess Who?> one behind me." --- General George S. Patton
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Apr 2003 15:06:16 +0100
From: "Wong Koi Hin"
Subject: Digest Etiquette
Reply to Ian Chappie:
I believe the onus lies with the digest team to handle the situation and determine the appropriate course of action. However, I will not subscribe or participate in this forum/digest (as much as I enjoy it) if it does not take a stand against racist/bigot comments or insinuations. Surely the Internet is a large enough place for those who wish to debate/express those views, without doing it here. When I subscribed to this list, one of the instructions/advise for posting messages from the digest team goes as follows:
"The contents of this digest is not censored. However, please respect each others opinions, refrain from discrimination and racism and be polite. We do keep the right not to publish messages and/or delete subscribers from the digest in extreme cases."
To the best of my knowledge, almost all postings have shown the above restrain and courtesy, even when the authors have strong opposing views on matters, strictly EPOC, or otherwise, and I applaud the civilised manner the majority of digestees have conducted themselves, thus far.
I am confident the digest team will take appropriate action.
Kind regards,
Koi Hin
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Apr 2003 16:03:25 +0100
From: vlad arghir
Subject: Pathetic insult
> Epoc Digest wrote:
> I hope that others will back me up on this topic.
Umm, not wholly.
1
I find exclusive logic less than helpful, and I find censorship as intolerable as racist bias and far more intolerable than a lack of sense of humour ;-) You are free not to respond to such obscure opinion-shit.
2
I am not inclined to take such jokes personally (I have no doubt this is what it was, see #3). Otoh, I find insults funny... You know, cartoonlike... especially in emails... polemics... especially the aptly worded... ambiguous... and in effect harmless... let him be. If he does it means something to him, why bother? Besides his reply was real cute: "It was not an attempt at humour, simply an insult" - not bad... lol...
3
Finally, I think that someone who is capable of using a Psion is intelligent enough to know the limits of commonsense. They will self-regulate to a tolerable level without the need of... allied force.
However I wouldn't want to have an intelligence test as a condition for access to this list ;-) I am perfectly happy with the "delete" button.
More clearly: I strongly disagree both with xenophobic logic and with censorship. Besides, I found this exchange just amusing, not worth a comment and certainly beyond insult.
best,
vlad a
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Apr 2003 16:58:19 +0100
From: "Rick Gillyon"
Subject: LONG! CF / Laptop Hard Drives/ Legalities / Frogs / NTFS / Dicks
Sorry, this is a biggie as I haven't posted in
ages...
> Date: 4 Apr 2003 13:43:17 +0000
> From: Antony
> believe that there are components within a 5mx that could be
> replaced to accomodate these, such as a smart media slot
> rather than a bulky CF slot.
Smart Media (like MMC, MS) has disadvantages:
the controller isn't onboard. So while our 5mx
can handle the latest huge CFs, contemporary
machines cannot handle the latest SM cards
without hardware or firmware upgrades.
Also CF offer great pricing right now.
Owen was looking for cheap laptop hard drives:
generally cheapest for most of these things is
www.dabs.com - worth a try.
> Date: 5 Apr 2003 11:40:39 +0000
> From: Rolf Brunsting
> << It seems crazy to me that people could be prosecuted for
> pointing out the whereabouts of public information! >>
>
> Since when is the registration code a shareware developer has
> sent to a customer public information?
Anything is public information when published on a
website. Whoever publishes runs a big risk under
English law, and anyone repeating the information
also runs a risk, but pointing out that the
information is available and can be searched for,
to me that is perfectly safe legally whatever you
think morally.
> Date: 5 Apr 2003 15:55:32 +0000
> From: "Stephane Sage"
> Just as a matter of curiosity, I should very much like, as a
> Frenchman (otherwise known as "frog-eater")
I would like to point out that "frog" used to refer
to a French person by an English person is not
an insult, more a nickname inspired by one of
our differences.
Never heard one referred to as a "frog-eater"
although that's obviously where it comes from.
I have eaten Frog myself, though don't consider
myself French... :)
> Date: 5 Apr 2003 22:30:36 +0000
> From: Kevin Thorne
> However, I put up with
> it 'cos my 1 Gb Microdrive gives me the huge storage space I
> want for very little money compared to CF prices.
Are you sure? 512MB 26-speed CFs are now
around £100+VAT in the UK.
> Date: 7 Apr 2003 02:26:48 +0100
> From: Mark DEPPE
> Rolf Worte <<<Since when is the registration code a shareware
> developer has sent to a customer public information?>>>
>
> Please correct me if I am mistaken Rick but I feel Rolf may
> have misunderstood.
Thanks for that Mark, you understood me
correctly. But we must expect these
misunderstandings in such a multinational
list.
> Date: 8 Apr 2003 18:04:39 +0100
> From: Mike Alexander
> don't think a Mac will read an NTFS formatted disk from
> Windows NT/2000/XP without extra software (although I haven't
> tried this and could be wrong), but then neither will a Psion.
Nor will Win95/Win98/WinMe.
> Date: 9 Apr 2003 21:15:44 +0100
> From: Rolf Brunsting
> The freedom to publish isn't
> always a total freedom. A number of conditions can apply, the
> most familiar one being copyright.
Others being libel law etc. Absolutely.
But the initial point *has* been missed by a
fairly wide margin, where it was suggested that
nicB's information that information could be
Googled may well be illegal.
> As for France, AOL was ordered by a French court to prevent
> French citizens access to US web sites selling Nazi
> memorabilia through AOL's system.
Nonsense, of course (the decision, not your
information). While I deplore Nazism,
this measure is akin to expecting a telephone
company to censor what passes over its lines,
or the Royal Mail to refuse to carry letters
the content of which it doesn't know.
> Is Google completely innocent when its
> search engine gives the URLs to child pornography web sites
> its automatic web crawlers have collected?
Yes. These bots take no decisions on content,
nor could they - if you make search engines
responsible for content most will disappear.
They may have family filters right now, but your
average paedo site, I'm sure, will not contain
any identifying keywords...so do you expect the
bots to have intelligence?
> Date: 9 Apr 2003 21:39:41 +0100
> From: Owen Morgan
> you that the insistence of the French and others that
> international law should be followed when dealing with a
> certain problem-state
Ah, but you assume that the problem here
is international law. I would say otherwise.
I can understand a certain antipathy towards
the French by the US and UK populace right now -
we were presented with the desecrations and
opinion polls a couple of weeks ago, which
cast a very poor light over relations. But
generalisations of these incidents to the
entire populace would, I believe, be unfair.
> Date: 10 Apr 2003 02:05:05 +0100
> From: "Bruce A. Knox"
> 2. I'm mightily disappointed in a SanDisk 64MB CF card
> bought last week (a mere 55AUD nowadays!) to replace a Lexar
> 32MB card in my MC218. The write speed is incredibly slow:
If you buy SanDisk, make sure it's a SanDisk ULTRA;
otherwise I'm not sure what speed it will be.
Itamar worried that:
> "my d.ck's bigger than yours"
might trigger some rejections from email filtering.
I'm sure the "biggest Dick of all", your fellow
Administrator Dick Chatjaval would disagree! :)
Sorry for the length, as the bishop said to the actress.
Bye,
Rick http://www.gillyon.com/
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Apr 2003 17:01:31 +0100
From: Jim Watson~Gove
Subject: National, Ethnic & Racial Slurs
Antony,
<<I thought the point was clear, but I understand it may not translate well so I shall rephrase it. I was implying that the French are spineless and/or cowardly. I hope this clears the matter up :-)>>
I suggest this is way over the top and beyond the use of a smiley face to "make it nice." Racial, ethnic or national slurs have no place on this list (IMO).
jim - port townsend
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Apr 2003 17:23:23 +0100
From: Jim Watson~Gove
Subject: Moderate Forum?
<<Can I ask that the admin. team be prepared to moderate The Digest?>>
I am very much in favor of Antony being removed from the list with a minimum of discussion.
But I am very much against moderation of the list. A member was moderated off of the list a while back because of misunderstanding because of language difference, and then returned when it was obvious that there was misunderstanding.
There is very little that upsets me in the free exchange of ideas. Unfortunately bigotry heads the list and IMO is enough over the top to warrant it being a cause of being removed from the list.
In this case I suggest that being reactive is better than being proactive.
Proactivity could smother the list.
jim - on his soap box in port townsend
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Apr 2003 17:36:56 +0100
From: "Hoffman, Susan"
Subject: 5mx spare
Would the person in California who is selling me his spare 5mx please e-mail me again, and let me know where to send the check to? Have you finished your taxes yet? My computer system deleted your e-mails because I forgot to archive them, and I don't have your address or name anymore. I am still interested (particularly because I managed to break off the second flange holding down the keyboard on my 5mx and I am ready to switch).
Susan Katz Hoffman
Pepper Hamilton LLP--------------
3000 Two Logan Square
18th & Arch Streets
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Tel: 215-981-4990
Fax: 215-981-4750
e-mail: hoffmans
web address: www.pepperlaw.com
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Apr 2003 17:59:38 +0100
From: "Wong Koi Hin"
Subject: Revo vs S7 (reply to Jaan Sass)
Hi,
I happen to own and use a Revo and Netbook. On many occasions I do not bring my Netbook but only my Revo because of its form factor, its pocketable and a quarter of the weight. While the Netbook is more of a laptop substitute for me, it certainly does not replace my Revo, its simply too big. Naturally everyone's mileage will vary; a friend of mine went crazy trying to type on the Revo once and now looks slightly disgusted whenever I bring it out in view!
warm regards,
Koi Hin
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Apr 2003 18:15:15 +0100
From: "Christopher Holly"
Subject: Don't overreact to bigots
I for one am quite satisfied with Owen and Michael's solutions to the expression of bigotry on the list. I think we are all big enough to let someone make an ass of himself without each of us turning into John Ashcroft. I emailed Stephane offlist with my unhappiness about the expressed bigotry. 'Nuff said, as they say in the comic books. --Chris
Chris Holly
Bloomington, IN USA
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Apr 2003 18:59:05 +0100
From: Will Green
Subject: 9210
Dear all,
I've recently swapped mobile provider and acquired a Nokia 9210 for free with my new talk excessively account.
I have to say it seems a bit dodgy!
It was never meant it as a 5mx/netBook replacement, but I thought I could do something with it.
My problems are;
Keeps crashing with out of memory errors.
CPU doesn't seem to be able to handle medium size email (digest amongst them).
'Profiles' (and this is the most annoying) keep changing back to a default 'very quiet ring' setting, even after one call without a reset.
Any ideas?
Re. Itamar.
I know this is a bit delayed, but our results re. World Survey did tally!
Cheers to all (except racist dickheads),
Will.
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Apr 2003 19:21:05 +0100
From: "Marcus von Cube"
Subject: New EPOC software by me? ;-)
Hi,
I just asked Symbian for a pack of UIDs. My first project should be an LPR client, written in Java, that can send a file to a printer attached via TCP/IP. I already printed out the RFC 1179, the Internet document describing the LPR/LPD protocol.
I'll make no promises about a deadline for this but I'd like to do some useful work outside my job (I'm a professional Java programmer!)
Marcus
http://www.mvcsys.de
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Apr 2003 20:34:46 +0100
From: Jaap Laméris
Subject: My problem with my SanDisk has been solved (partly..)
Greetings!
Last week I informed you about my problems with sorting a database stored on
my SanDisk 64Mb Cf card in my Mbook. I reported that this action always
resulted in a crash when the file was stored on the CF card, not on the
C-drive of my netBook or Series 5.
I found out that it was not really a crash. It just took a very long time to
do this job. Sorting a 10k database on the C-drive took about 6 seconds, and
about 16 minutes on the SanDisk. Reformatting didn´t result in a faster
sorting. After searching on the Net and after seeing Martin´s Guthry and Ian
Sylvester (Diem on the PsionPlace Bulletin board), I found a neat utility,
called Diskbench.opo, which explained the problem. The SanDisk 64 Mb card is
extremely slow when writing!
The following table shows the benchmark measurements I made with Diskbench
for the three 64 Mb cards I own:
Location; mean speed in reading mean speed in writing
C 0.09 0.17
seconds
Apacer 64 Mb 1.03 13.56 seconds
SanDisk 64 Mb 0.88 26.48 seconds
Lexar 64 Mb 1.11 6.33 seconds
So I do now know the cause for my problem; now I have to decide how to
optimise my CF cards between my Mbook, my digital camera and my spare Series
5. Most likely in this sequence Lexar, Apacer and SanDisk.
Cheers,
Jaap Laméris
PS I just read Bruce Knox comments in the last Digest, which confirms my
findings. Like him , I also am interested in finding a remedy.
>2. I'm mightily disappointed in a SanDisk 64MB CF card bought last week (a
mere 55AUD nowadays!) to replace a Lexar 32MB card in my MC218. The write
speed is incredibly slow: e.g., to save an edited entry in a Data file
(109kb), from pressing Ctrl-S to the reappearance of the record, takes 16
seconds, instead of the 2-5 in any other disk. My S7, and my fallback S5,
produced exactly the same results. Taking advice from Martin Guthrie's
lovely website, I tried a couple of different formats using Smart Format. No
joy - though perhaps I tried the wrong combinations of FAT & sectors. Can
anyone suggest why a SanDisk card would behave this way? And could there be
a remedy? The Lexar, and Kingmax 64MB and 128MB cards, behave beautifully.
>
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Apr 2003 21:35:24 +0100
From: Rolf Brunsting
Subject: Re: Why a 5mx or Revo?
Dear Jaan,
<< My question is how would anyone use a psion 5mx or revo when the 7 and netbook exist >>
In one word : Convenience.
It's easier to carry a Revo than a Series 5mx and easier to carry a 5mx than a Series 7. I've got all three, plus a Series 5 plus an Ericsson MC218, and the one I take with me depends on what I do that day or the coming days. For the normal home to office commute it's the Series 7 because its size and weight are no problem. It's put on the charger that evening and ready for another day's work in the morning. When I travel (abroad) it's the 5mx/MC218 because I like to travel light while still having access to safety backups of my data on CF card and can rely on AA batteries being available at every corner store. The Revo is used when I'm simply out-and-about and only need my diary and contacts.
The Revo's job is currently being taken over by a SonyEricsson P800 smartphone as it allows me to have my diary and contacts in my trouser pocket, so to speak (See also : SonyEricsson P800 - First impressions). The others will then be used for the more 'heavy duty' stuff - word processing, databases, spreadsheets, etc. the P800 is less well suited for.
--
Kind Regards,
Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Apr 2003 21:35:26 +0100
From: Rolf Brunsting
Subject: Re: GPRS Free on Vodafone via a psion?
Dear Mark,
<< I recently discovered that although all my GPRS Internet / email is charged for, GPRS on my phone using the wap browser is free except for downloads. So I set about trying to get psion wap brouser to work with GPRS on the same settings. For some reason I can't ... >>
I'm not sure but the reason could be that you're using your mobile phone as a wireless modem. The WAP browser on the phone itself can simply hook into an always-on GPRS connection or establish a temporary GPRS connection for the WAP session when set up to do so. Use a Psion (or other computer) and the phone needs to receive a dial-out instruction as that's the way computers initiate a connection via a modem. Now, the phone doesn't need to dial a number for GPRS. It requests such a connection by exchanging messages with the mobile network. The *99# is simply an instruction for the phone to link the GPRS connection to the serial port, infrared port or Bluetooth transceiver. Additional information between the 99 and the # can tell the phone which pre-programmed GPRS profile (also called 'context') it needs to use. What the *99# does, however, is indicate that an external device is using the GPRS connection rather than the phone's WAP browser - Gotcha!!
<< APN not sure what this is but I might have got this wrong >>
APN stands for Access Point Name which, as far as I know, is
wap.vodafone.co.uk
...at your side of the duck pond.
--
Kind Regards,
Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Apr 2003 21:35:28 +0100
From: Rolf Brunsting
Subject: Re: Faxing with a calling card
Dear Woody,
<< Now that I'm the proud owner of an MBook with the fax/modem, wonder if the included fax program has the ability to accept 3 eleven digit numbers plus the required pauses between the numbers .. I've just briefly looked at the manual and didn't see much info. Or is there a way to work around limitations? >>
You need to create a new 'Location' in the Dialling application (Control Panel -> Dialling) which allows you to set the the numbers you need to pass on under the Chargecard tab. When sending a fax you get a dialog that allows you to select the location you're calling from. Select the location you've created and all should work well.
--
Kind Regards,
Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Apr 2003 21:35:30 +0100
From: Rolf Brunsting
Subject: SonyEricsson P800 - First impressions
Dear Friends,
I couldn't resist buying a SonyEricsson P800 as an addition to my mobile phone stable of four Nokias, two Ericssons, a Sagem and a Motorola. The P800 hasn't been discussed much on the Digest and I'd like to report on my first impressions of this 100% pen driven 'PhoneDA'.
The package is quite complete. The P800 comes with a US cradle plus exchange software, 16 MByte Memory Stick Duo card, Memory Stick Duo to Memory Stick adapter, charger, headset, 3 extra pens and a nylon case. It's unfortunate that the software needs to run on Windows ME, 2000 or XP as it means I can't connect the P800 to my Windows '98 PC. This makes data transfer a bit more cumbersome.
The P800 is thicker than I expected from the photographs I've seen of it. Looks to me that SonyEricsson can make it a bit thinner, which makes it easier to fit the P800 in my trouser pocket. One of the first things I liked about the P800 was the way the pen clips on to the side of the unit and is easy to remove. What's more, the pen covers the slot for the Memory Stick Duo card when clipped on - a clever touch. Still, I'd thought the easy removal of the pen would result in the pen coming loose in my pocket but that has yet to happen. The simple 'hook' does its work well.
Fitting the SIM card and battery was quite easy - no need to check the manual. I, actually, haven't read the manual (as I normally do) because I'd like to see how easy it is to come to grips with the P800. Which has proven to be fairly easy. Probably because I've used Psion as well as quite a number of phones and know what to expect.
Switch the P800 on and you see a clear colour screen that doesn't suffer from bright ambient light. It shows a number of applications we're familiar with, like Contacts, Calendar (=Agenda), Jotter and the Control Panel. Other applications are:
- Communicam : To control the integrated camera
- Pictures : A picture album
- Video : A movie player
- Audio : A sound player supporting several formats
- Internet : A web browser
- Messages : Similar to Email in that it's a combined SMS, MMS and e-mail client
- Phone : The control application for the phone side of things
- Tasks : A task manager
- Voice Memo : As the name says, a voice memo recorder
- Calculator : A simple (not scientific) calculator
- Time : The familiar time application but without the world map as found on the Psions
- Viewer : A documents viewer supporting familiar PC based file formats
- Remote Sync : A tool for synchronisation with (say) a web site using SyncML
- Online Services : Something I haven't explored yet
- GPRS data log : Keeps track of data exchanged via GPRS
- Chess : As the name says
- Solitaire : Ditto
I've played a bit with most of the applications but have yet to explore them in depth.
One of the first things I did was to transfer my phone numbers to the P800. I did this by beaming data from the Contacts application on my Series 7 to the Contacts application on the P800 as I couldn't use the supplied PC software. This was the trigger to review all the contacts I had collected through the years and to do some pruning before the transfer. Getting the contacts over was quite easy, though a bit time consuming. Each individual contacts lands in the Messages application under a section called 'Beamed'. Tap on the beamed category and you get a list of all messages received. You can review each contact as received before storing them into the P800's Contacts application.
Next thing, was to see how the contacts were transferred and everything looked fine. This proved not to be the case when I tried to dial a number directly from Contacts. I've always entered phone numbers in my Psion using the +12-(0)123-1234567 notation and all numbers were faithfully transferred. Problem is that the P800 doesn't mind the hyphens in the number but does object to the (0) in it. Which meant that I had to manually change all the phone numbers to the +12-123-1234567 notation. Needless to say that it took me a while to modify the phone, fax and mobile numbers of about 320 contacts. Still, no pain, no gain and everything works fine now.
It was then time to beam the appointments and to-do's I have for the coming weeks so that I have these in my pocket as well. Again, quite simple - beam them over and they land in Messages on the P800 and can be reviewed before transfer to the Calendar and Tasks tools. I don't use that many different to-do lists on the Psion's Agenda and could easily accommodate the few to-do's I beamed over in the Business, Personal and Unfiled categories of Tasks. I could have recreated the categories I use on the Psion, but that's for later. My appointments were also faithfully transferred, I didn't need to do anything about them. But what I did on the Psion was to disable the alarms of the appointments and to-do's I'd transferred as I don't need to be reminded by more than one device.
Which leaves the question what I'm going to do with previous appointments I have in Agenda. It's good to have them on the P800 for those "When was that?" situations. However, I literally have *all* appointments from the time I bought my Series 3a - the very first is for the 19th of June, 1995. I'd like to have them all on the P800 as they form the personal diary of the life of Rolf Brunsting. Beaming them all over, one by one, is not something I look forward to. Let's see whether I can get a second-hand copy of Windows ME so that I can 'upgrade' my PC and install the SonyEricsson software.
Needless to say that the anniversaries in Agenda, mostly birthdays, were the next to be beamed over. It's here that I found a difference between Agenda on the Psion and Calendar on the P800. The latter doesn't support anniversaries as a separate data item. They're received as an Agenda message by the Messages application and treated as a 'reminder' in Calendar. Funny thing is, when you look at a transferred anniversary it's described as such in the details view of the reminder. But what you can't do is to modify it, like changing the text, the date or the repeats. You can only delete the reminder entry as a whole. I could have left it at that, but came to the conclusion that it was better to recreate my Agenda anniversaries as Calendar reminders on the P800.
Which brings me to the handwriting recognition of the P800 as I needed to enter descriptive texts for about 60 anniversaries/reminders. The P800, fortunately, uses CIC's Jot as recognition system. I'm a bit familiar with as the Pocket PC machines I've played with use Jot as well. It's better in my opinion than Palm's Graffiti system because Jot's penstrokes are closer to the way I write. The penstrokes have also much in common with Allegro, which I use on my Psion for its simple penstroke macros. Text entry was easier than I thought, Allegro has proven to be a good long-term investment. Doesn't mean that I'm now fluent in Jot. My E's regularly become L's and vice versa - R's sometimes become H's - I'm having to unlearn the Allegro penstroke for the F as it results in a T - the stroke for the period or decimal point is still giving trouble, etc. In other words, practice, practice and practice will make my text entry perfect. What saved me time was to copy 'Verjaardag', Dutch for Birthday, and paste it into each new entry when I entered the anniversaries, so that I only had to add the name of the person.
I'm now at a point where I can use the P800 as my main tool for managing my appointments, contacts and to-dos. Which means a few adaptations to the way I worked with Agenda. Calendar on the P800 doesn't support untimed appointments which I used to record various snippets of personal and business information. I can see, for example, on which date I visited the Edradour distillery during my 2002 holidays in the north of the UK. I've also got quite a number of "Bram in [Enter Town]" untimed entries to remind me where my former boss was during his business travels. I'm probably going to have to use Calendar reminders for these, storing them under separate categories.
Events are also different in Calendar, they're now called "All day events". And, indeed, they create a kind of appointment for the whole day. The help function for Calendar mentions that these events can be used to enter such things as conferences. I'd rather not use these All day events as I'm used to record such things as the art exhibitions I'd like to visit as events in Agenda. And events in Agenda are a variant of untimed appointments. A three months exhibition, like the one of the portraits of Jan Sluyters at the Drenths Museum I've attended, would create a three month block in my diary. Reminders will have to be used for the 'events' I'd like to record. As it appears that I'm going to use reminders for quite a number of things I'm going to have a good think about how best to organise them into categories.
And now for something different ... Multimedia. The list of applications above shows that the P800 has a fair number of multimedia functions. The P800 comes with a 48-second video to demonstrate how what it's capable of, and it's quite good. Not a totally fluent display, there a few tiny pauses, but the accompanying music plays without a halt. Nice for a "Look what my P800 can", but I don't see what I'm going to use the video player for.
The same goes for the audio player. It supports quite a number of sound formats, like WAV, MP3, MIDI, AU, and AMR. I'm currently using the sound of an old-fashioned telephone in WAV format as my ringtone and have to say it sounds good (and loud). However, I don't intend to use the P800 as a walkman. The internal memory, 16 MByte, is too small for that and the supplied 16 MByte Memory Stick Duo card won't hold that much music either. Besides, I'm not fond of MP3 and similar formats as the compression robs the classical and jazz music I like of sound clarity and ambience. When I hear Wibi Soerjadi play I want to hear his Bösendorfer - not 'some piano'.
What I have some use for is the integrated camera. I've already added mug shots of a number of my colleagues to their contact details. Also made photos of the training room at the training centre of NS Dutch Railways where I'm going to hold four equipment training sessions and discussed back at the office where we're going to fit the gear we have to supply. They're not great compared to the photos my Canon Digital Ixus 300 makes - colours are washed out and they suffer from JPEG artefacts due to the heavy compression. Still, the camera of the P800 serves it's purpose as a pocket tool for making quick snaps.
That's all for this first instalment. I'm going to change my mobile network account in order to be able to make better use of the P800's data communication abilities. I therefore think it's better to wait with a report on the e-mail, web browser and service functions till my new account is up and running.
--
Kind Regards,
Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands
PS - It's, indeed, not possible to use the P800 as a wireless modem for sending fax messages from a Psion or other computer as has been mentioned previously.
*++++++++++&
Date: 11 Apr 2003 07:14:40 +0100
From: "Christian Roth"
Subject: Antony's insults
Dear fellow list member,
I'd say let Antony write whatever he wants..
I won't heat, facing such blanting ignorance. I send him my good energy, for
he seems to need some of it desperately (of course he will say that he
rejects it ;-). I am one of those who think that any angry reaction will
"nurse" conflicts even more. Just breathe and relax!
What a exercise!
Sincerely,
Chris.
P.s.: after having left the psion platform a few months ago (I dropped and
destroyed my 5mx) and having tried a Palm device since, I am now returning
with one of the malayBooks to EPOC. It ever has been the best I used for
personal management. I am excited ;-) to be a part of this digest again.
*++++++++++&
Date: 11 Apr 2003 09:39:39 +0100
From: Dick Chatjaval
Subject: To Itamar
Hello Itamar,
>>For the sake of the international EPOC peace I suggest we stop the discussions about the French, English, Americans, etc. <<
I agree with your statement above.
>>Oh, and ups, there is a word again that will set of the cyber alarms "my d.ck's bigger than yours" <G>.<<
May I also propose that we leave my name, or variations, out of discussions too <VBG>
Best regards,
Dick
*++++++++++&
Date: 11 Apr 2003 11:09:52 +0100
From: Owen Morgan
Subject: Upgrading a standard 5mx to Pro
Hi.
I didn't get any reply to this the other day, so I'm trying again.
Another digest member has a 24mb 5mx Pro with a broken touch sensitive layer on the screen for sale. I'm thinking of buying it and using the motherboard to upgrade my standard 5mx to Pro specification.
Can anyone think of a reason why this would not work? It's been a while since I've opened up a Psion 5. As far as I remember, the ROM is on a seperate PCB. Will it be enough to replace this, or do I need to change the whole motherboard? How much "mechanical" difference is there between a standard mx and a mx Pro?
Owen
Thought for the day:
Croll's query:
If tin whistles are made of tin, then of what are foghorns made?
--
Owen H. Morgan, Yacht "Naomi J.", LD-53°27.22'N 6°09.04'W
Malahide, Ireland
http://home.no.net/naomij
Phone and SMS:
In Ireland: +353 (0)87 7474173
In Norway: +47 9205309
*++++++++++&
Date: 11 Apr 2003 11:10:21 +0100
From: Owen Morgan
Subject: Re: Revo to 5mx, worth the ugrade?
Howdy!
Pedro Gil wrote (> ):
> I was wondering, is it worth to upgrade from a
> REVO to a 5mx?
Personally, I have a 5mx and a Mako (Revo Plus in drag). I use the mx as my "home" computer and the Mako as my "take everywhere" portable. In fact, I'm typing this on my Mako on a break at work. I also have a WindoZe laptop which is mostly used for editing and storing photographs and MP3 files and running chart plotter software for my yacht.
Whether you should upgrade depends a lot how you use your Revo. The most important feature you will be gaining is more storage space which will only be important if you're presently running out of space or there is stuff you'd like to carry that you don't have room for on the Revo (like big reference works in TomeRaider format). The backlight is handy too of course, but as the screen on the Revo/Mako is better than the mx (without the backlight), I find I don't really miss backlight on the Mako.
If you want to use any graphic software or mapping stuff like Route Planner the bigger screen helps, and maps take a lot of space, so you can have more maps installed at the same time on an mx with a large CF card. As I no longer drive, I don't use Route Planner for planning routes, but I find it very useful as a pocket atlas. I have both the European and North America maps on the mx.
As for the keyboard, in my experience, once you're used to the Revo / Mako keyboard, there isn't all that much difference, and I can type almost as fast on the Mako as on the mx, but then I have relatively slim fingers, so your mileage may vary.
Someone else asked why anyone would use a Revo or 5mx when the NetBook / S7 is available. I'd love to have a netBook or 7even, but it would not replace my Mako as I can't slip a netBook into my inside jacket pocket or hang it in a holster off my belt. It might conceivably replace the 5mx as my home computer, but sometimes when I'll be away from home (the boat) for several days, I take the 5mx instead of the Mako. If I had a Mako and a netBook, I would need to take both as the netBook is too large to carry everywhere.
To me, the one big disappointment with the netBook is that it only supports 256 colours, so that big beatiful screen can not be used as a portable photo album. Another point is the price. The netBook and S7 are very expensive pieces of kit. I've already spent far too much money on toys this year. To me, the most important use of my Psions is e-mail, and I'm quite happy typing my e-mails on the Mako or 5mx.
Owen
Thought for the day:
You can't out-stubborn a cat.
--
Owen H. Morgan, Yacht "Naomi J.", LD-53°20.87'N 6°14.83'W
Dublin City Moorings
http://home.no.net/naomij
Phone and SMS:
In Ireland: +353 (0)87 7474173
In Norway: +47 92053097
*++++++++++&
Date: 11 Apr 2003 11:10:33 +0100
From: Owen Morgan
Subject: Re: MX5 Lid switch, AOL, back-up query, Email on 5mx, S7 v. 5MX, Jpeg HW decomp
Howdy!
Itamar Engelsman wrote (> ):
> Re.: MX5 Lid switch - But first make a back-up.
> Better safe than sorry !!
Particularly as you have to take the batteries out in order to dismantle the mx...
Owen
Thought for the day:
People usually get what's coming to them... Unless it's been mailed.
--
Owen H. Morgan, Yacht "Naomi J.", LD-53°20.87'N 6°14.83'W
Dublin City Moorings
http://home.no.net/naomij
Phone and SMS:
In Ireland: +353 (0)87 7474173
In Norway: +47 92053097
*++++++++++&
Date: 11 Apr 2003 11:20:50 +0100
From: Itamar Engelsman
Subject: Bigotry in the digest, Revo to 5mx, worth the ugrade?, Monopoly,
Re. Bigotry in the digest - Dear Friends, just a few weeks ago I was "told off" for starting a non-EPOC discussion and agreed that was correct. Lately we have unfortunately seen a discussion develop under this heading with rather unfriendly messages being written. The Epoc Digest Team decided at this stage not to remove any subscriber from this list, but instead to delete all messages concerning this subject. We request you kindly to refrain from continueing this discussion and not start similar ones. Let's keep this digest focussed on what combines us, the usage of EPOC machines and software and the possible replacements, and not what might divide us. Finally let me remind you of a small part of the rules published at the bottom of each digest :
-----
The contents of this digest is not censored. However, please respect each others opinions, refrain from discrimination and racism and be polite. We do keep the right not to publish messages and/or delete subscribers from the digest in extreme cases.
-----
The Team thanks you all for your co-operation.
With best regards,
Itamar Engelsman
Answer to: Pedro Gil
Re.: Revo to 5mx, worth the ugrade? - That depends on your requirements. You will loose some "pockatabillity" but gain a larger screen, usage of CF cards for extra storage space and usage of normal AA batteries instead of rechargeable with problems, and of course a backlight. You might get caught in the cable screen problem, but who knows, there is no "guarantee" it will happen. In my humble view, yes, it is worthwhile, specially taking into account the relatively low price. On the other hand, if you don't need to carry it in a pocket or on your belt at all, also have a look at the S7/ netBook. You will gain a colour screen, a larger keyboard, but loose out on the bigger size of it.
Answer to: Martin Guthrie
Re. Monopoly - I am indeed a little colour blind, but still can see some things already in colour in the game. But if you can enhance it, wow !!, that is great, and thanks in advance for all your activities.
Best regards,
Itamar Engelsman
London, UK
*++++++++++&
Date: 11 Apr 2003 20:41:29 +0100
From: Ashley
Subject: Ireland: GPS: 9210:
Hi all
I & my good lady, will be in Ireland over the Easter break, & I would love to meet up and have some dark stuff with any on the list, She (the good lady) will mock an scorn us, but who cares, email off list of your whereabouts.
Hoping to have a Emap GPS (bought on Ebay) by then has anyone got map data for Ireland they can email me ? swap for Tom Tom City maps
Come on you other 9210 users we know your out there please contact the list, how do you use your communicators ?.
I use mine all day every day Email. Web. Data.
Bloody Vexed please someone how do you complete Twister level 34 ?
*++++++++++&
Date: 11 Apr 2003 22:25:13 +0100
From: Rolf Brunsting
Subject: Re: Jpeg HW decomp
Dear Andrew,
<< It sounds more like you need to upgrade your camera to one that lets you do exactly that on the camera >>
The Ixus 300 supports zooming and panning but is still limited by the size of the display. A colour 5mx would give me a larger view of my photos, which makes it easier to decide whether i keep them or delete them.
<< I should also point out that is it not necessary to fully decompress the entire JPEG when you only want to display a portion of it ... >>
I know. Still, hardware assisted decompression is a big plus. A second of delay may be fine for individual photos but becomes tiring when you want to review a whole set of them.
<< If the 'new 5mx' were to have a ~200MHz CPU like the netBook, that's *plenty* fast enough for JPEG and MP3 decompression >>
How many of the devices with 200 MHz StrongARM processors are powered by two AA batteries? <G>
--
Kind Regards,
Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands
*++++++++++&
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