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Epoc Digest Sat, 10 Jan 2004 Volume 01 : Number 422
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Sent to: 794 subscribers
In today's Epoc Digest 15 messages:
==============================
- Finally cracked!
- Re: eBook
- Re: Viewing html mails in browser
- Re: PsionJVM.zip
- Re: Epoc Digest V1 # 421
- Re: nB US AC adapter (4 Jim W-G)
- EBook's Page Down (4 PRAR)
- Multitasking & multitasking (4 Rick)
- RE: Epoc Digest V1 # 418 (4 Neil T.)
- Re: Misc Answers (4 Jim W-G)
- SYSTINFO.OPX or SYSRAM1.OPX not supported
- OPX installation sadly not always right.
- RE: Multitasking
- New fields in Contacts !?
- MnetBook
*++++++++++&
Date: 9 Jan 2004 19:56:12 +0100
From: Astrid Stappenbeck
Subject: Finally cracked!
Hi all,
it has happened - my screencable has finally cracked and my Psion will be out for repair. It was however good to know the symptons so I knew at least what was going on. And I could even work with my 5mx - found a new use for the stylus: propped in the slit at the back and holding down the cable. Phew, all backed up now.
However, my access to email and net wiil be less regular for a (hopefully short) while.
Astrid
*++++++++++&
Date: 9 Jan 2004 21:53:33 +0100
From: Astrid Stappenbeck
Subject: Re: eBook
Hi,
> ... and also there didn't seem to be a way of paging down at my own rate.
Given time I might get used to the autoscrolling but in the end I just installed it. <
Well, you can either page down manually by pressing Enter or Space (up with Delete) or tap on the bottom (upper) half of the screen; you can do it line by line with the arrows (keys and scrollbar); you can use autoscrolling and even set the pace for that under preferences - what else can you possibly want to go your own rate?
Astrid
*++++++++++&
Date: 9 Jan 2004 23:21:49 +0100
From: Alan Morris
Subject: Re: Viewing html mails in browser
Daniele Squarci wrote:-
>>> the easiest way is to use 'View HTML mail' a macro
>
> Thanks for the tip, Astrid! I downloaded the macro and
> made the appropriate corrections, but then get a problem
> when translating: the procedure stops at the line Include
> "macro.oph" and gives an error message "Not Found".
Copy it from :\System\OPL to the folder that the macro is in when translating. That's where Macro5 puts it.
--
Alan R Morris, G4ENS.
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, UK.
Using a Psion netBook & Nokia 6210e.
*++++++++++&
Date: 9 Jan 2004 23:28:00 +0100
From: Andrew Longdon
Subject: Re: PsionJVM.zip
I downloaded this file on Monday from:-
http://www.psion.com/downloads/epoc32/5mx_software/PsionJVM.zip
/.ndy
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Jan 2004 06:56:44 +0100
From: Martin Maxwell
Subject: Re: Epoc Digest V1 # 421
0
Answer to: Stephane Sage
Subject: Programs cannot be launched anymore after installing a new one (?) on 5mx
>>>Right after I installed a few new programs on my 5mx (among which KMLink and KMLinkWin), some of my usual programs (not those delivered with the machine) cannot be launched anymore, a window:"SYSTINFO.OPX or SYSRAM1.OPX not supported" appearing instead.<<<
Did you install KMLinkWin last into the 5mx? If you did that is the problem, because KMLinkWin is meant for running on PC emulator and might have overwritten 5mx SYSTINFO and SYSRAM1 OPXs with OPXs for PCs. You should be able to solve this by deleting all SYSRAM1.OPX and SYSTINFO.OPX under C:/System/Opx and D:/System/Opx and then reinstalling KMLink (without the -Win).
Kind regards
Martin Maxwell
Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Jan 2004 07:23:57 +0100
From: David Lir
Subject: Re: nB US AC adapter (4 Jim W-G)
> Luckily, another member of the list is sending me an extra
> power adapter to get me up and going. It should be here
> today or tomorrow,
That's why I was asking - I was going to offer a 'loner' in case the wait was going to be a very long one.
-------------------------
David Lir - \\:>{o>
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Jan 2004 07:23:59 +0100
From: David Lir
Subject: EBook's Page Down (4 PRAR)
> With ebook the portrait mode is the other wrong way up and
> also there didn't seem to be a way of paging down at my own
> rate
From EBook's Help file: "Page Down using the space bar, enter, page-down key, tap the scrollbar or tap on the bottom quarter of the screen."
-------------------------
David Lir - \\:>{o>
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Jan 2004 07:24:10 +0100
From: David Lir
Subject: Multitasking & multitasking (4 Rick)
> It's an interesting concept, and I think multitasking *is*
> useful from time to time. But which of those apps is
> actually processing in the background while you do something
> else? I'm not sure that I can see anything that is. And the
> Sonys/Palms are using a CPU which is over 10x faster than the
> 5mx, so app startup times isn't an issue. I can think of a
> few times in the past when I've done large exports e.g. from
> BankPlus, and I've been able to work on other things while it
> has progressed - useful, but rare enough not to be a real
> issue.
The proverbial 'average computer user' tends to think of multitasking in less narrowly construed terms than you seem to, to not only mean processing two or more things at once - but also to include the concept of having many applications or files open at once and seamlessly flipping back and forth between them. I think that something can be said for this wider understanding or definition of the term, even if it's not precisely or technically correct. Certainly, in everyday life when we refer to someone 'multitasking' we don't always mean that said person is actually *doing* many things at once, but often that he or she is *jumping back and forth* between many things. This extended form of 'multitasking' is also much easier on a Psion than on a Palm, IMO.
I haven't used a Palm in a while - but with the current OS, on a Palm can I have numerous files open in the same application and flip back and forth between them - without having to close any of them down, as I can do - so very easily on a Psion? I very often find this sort of thing useful.
Anyway, that the Psion can have one program chugging away in the background while another is being used in the foreground is a real blessing, IMO. It means that I don't have to sit drumming my fingers against my desk, waiting for a sloooow process to finish. I take full advantage of multitasking every day.
Here are a few examples of when I find multitasking handy:
When:
- Downloading or processing a large HTML file or Web page in Opera or Web.
- Downloading a large ZIP or PDF file with Opera or Web.
- Zipping up a large folder (with subfolders) with ZipMaster or PC.
- Downloading my email with Email.
- Leaving a game running, so the computer can finish its turn.
- Converting a large or complex HTML file with nConvert.
- Running a search with GlobalFind.
- Paginating a large document in Word.
- Scanning for OPX's with OPXScan.
- Running CheckDisk on D or E.
- Printing a large Word file to a new PDF with PDF+.
- Backing up D to E with FastBackup.
- Performing a housekeeping scan with CleanIt.
- Emptying a large number of items from RecycleBin.
I often switch to another app in the foreground and:
- Read, write or spell check messages in Email.
- Update my Agenda.
- Look up a word or two in a TR dictionary.
- Search for an entry in my main Jotter file.
- Scroll through a PDF file with PDF+.
- Continue word-processing in Word or Editor.
- Read an ebook in EBook.
- Create, edit or view an entry or doc or file in practically any program.
Another example would be when I open numerous HTML files from System and then flip away (using ETM) to an app in the foreground while Web continues working in the background loading and prepping the pages for reading later.
Or how about loading one page in Web while Opera processes another page in the background - or vice versa.
Merlin is running at all times (except during a backup) on my machines - providing me with application specific graphical toolbars that greatly extend EPOC's usefulness. If the Psion couldn't multitask - I would not be able to run Merlin at all! So long as Merlin is running - I'm taking excellent advantage of multitasking. The same would seem to apply to Macro5, BTW.
Finally, many of the most useful small applets run in the background or have processes running there. Locker, BatCheck, CronTab, AtomicTime, AlarmPlus, StickyKeys, any of the Task Switchers (ETM, nSwitcher, FileSwitch) and Encrypt-it! are all good examples. Encrypt-it! sits in the background waiting for a recently unencrypted file to close so that it can jump to the foreground and re-encrypt it.
Imagine Win XP or Mac OS X or Linux without multitasking - could you even sell a desktop computer without this capability anymore?
> The only real shortfalls of the Palms IMO is battery (i.e.
> not replaceable), keyboard, filesystem, reliance on a PC and
> lack of macros.
Are ya sure that those are *all* the shortfalls then? ;)
-------------------------
David Lir - \\:>{o>
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Jan 2004 07:24:18 +0100
From: David Lir
Subject: RE: Epoc Digest V1 # 418 (4 Neil T.)
> Well that was very entertaining - a whole issue taken up by
> one contributor! Makes a change from the "What machine shall
> I get next?" and "Why can't Psion produce an EPOC
> NetBookPro?" threads of late..
Sorry about that! Those messages were in response to a few Digests. Since I tend to send in my messages to the Digest in sizeable batches, I've, in the past, asked the Digest ADMIN to break up these batches and send them in over two or three Digests - so as to NOT flood the Digest. I guess I should have done the same this time; either that or sent that last batch in over a couple of days myself. Well, at least I've made Digest history! ;)
-------------------------
David Lir - \\:>{o>
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Jan 2004 07:24:21 +0100
From: David Lir
Subject: Re: Misc Answers (4 Jim W-G)
> I agree with you - my wife would not. Even though she is a
> much faster typist than I, her files were small and she never
> ran into the slow processor problem (that started and grew
> worse as the file size passed a certain point and grew). The
> OS, for her was extremely intuitive and user friendly, and
> the machine would do anything she needed it to do.
Yup, there are still many Zaurus fans out there. I suspect I could sell a hundred shrink-wrapped Z-5800's or 3500's for a fair bit on eBay - if I only had them to sell. The Z's PIM was especially well loved by many who would have found a Psion (of any stripe) overkill. Still, I found that the Z was slow for some other important operations - besides word-processing. Anyway, the fact remains that the Series 3a was generally a more powerful beast than a Z, and a Series 5(mx) even more so.
> <<I'm sure glad I didn't go for a Dana then - either for
> myself or for my kids! I've already suffered through the
> experience of a computer too slow to keep up with fast typing
> once, and would rather not repeat it!>>
>
> The problem is not as bad as on the Zaurus. I'm fairly fast
> despite three fingers and the problem would only kick in when
> I was "multitasking" (or what passes for it in Palm OS).
> Usually, I said, with moving data between WordSmith and
> Snappermail. Only a few of us on the AlphaSmart forum even
> noticed the problem. This is one of those things that should
> be evaluated individually (one size does not fit all).
Well, I can get pretty darn fast at times on my MnetBook! I probably wouldn't bother with the Dana just knowing that there was a strong possibility of the problem rearing its ugly head in the future. I know that AS has a 30 day refund warranty, but even if it were applicable to purchases from Canada, I've found that there are costs involved even in trying things out and then getting a refund. Besides, I wouldn't really consider buying ANY Palm OS unit again before OS 6. Of course, with 4 EPOC machines I'm not really in the market anymore anyway - just perpetually scanning.
> <<All of this talk on the Digest recently, of both the Dana
> and the upcoming Palm OS 6, gives me the idea that an
> affordable and fast netBook alternative may appear in the
> not-too-distant future - running Palm OS 6. Any thoughts?>>
>
> The major missing ingredient is the acceptance that a Psion
> sized keyboard (minimally Revo sized) is a good marketing
> move. An upper level Palm with a decent keyboard would be a
> great start. Add the expected improvements of OS 6 and it
> could be a great machine.
Sure, a 5mx or Revo style Palm with an improved OS would be a real treat - but I was speaking more of a netBook alternative. The large Dana is already somewhat positioned for this - it just needs a snappier processor, improved OS and better screen! IIRC, PalmOne is looking for licensees that will take chances and move further beyond traditional PDA forms - perhaps a Palm OS 6 mini-laptop (with a clamshell design) is not too far off?
> I suspect that the keys on the new (16 meg) machine have been
> improved.
Has there been any official word from AS to indicate that the newer keyboard is any different from the one found on the earlier model?
> <<....as I prefer to keep my E: drive (a 512MB CF in a PCMCIA
> adapter) inserted, as much as possible.>>
>
> Hmmm - this means you have CF cards in both D and E. That
> sound very attractive - one for "expansion" and one for
> backup. Where does one get (recommendation?) a PCMCIA
> adapter and how expensive is it? Definitely not interested
> in micro-drives (too high tech and expensive for me
Exactly. Also, I therefore have a backup of everything in C (where my most important data is) twice! I backup C to D and then D to E at least once a day. I also backup E to my laptop.
PCMCIA CF Adapters are very cheap at around $15-20 CDN. They can be bought at most any computer store and most office supply superstores, as well as innumerable places on the Web. No recommendation is really needed as they are all extremely similar and simple devices - I've yet to hear of someone having a problem with any of the various brands. Just buy on price and from a place with a good return/refund policy in case you get a bad one.
> I suspect that Peter's typing skills are at the top of the
> envelope. Once again one should try one out before writing
> the Dana off.
Fair enough. I have no direct experience with the Dana, but the fact that a few users on the AS forums, as well as Peter have found that the processor can be 'overtyped' would be a strong word of caution to me - if I were truly still considering purchasing a Dana.
> <<I didn't realize that they had made the 'old battery swap'
> so difficult to accomplish! Screws!??>>
>
> Whoops!!! I just took a careful look at my Dana. It has what
> appears to be one small shipping screw (or child proofing
> screw). Once that is removed, it has a simple sliding cover
> - slid it to the left and it comes out. Slide it to the
> right and it "locks." The screw could be thrown away safely.
That's MUCH better! Thanks for double-checking.
> <<Talk about MULTI-TASKING! :)>>
>
> That's the story of my life.
You're a multi-tasker - I'm a multi-task-avoider!
> jim - in snowy port townsend.
David - frozen in a block of ice in Toronto. "Help, I'm frozen and I can't get up!", says he.
-------------------------
David Lir - \\:>{o>
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Jan 2004 10:36:30 +0100
From: Marcus von Cube
Subject: SYSTINFO.OPX or SYSRAM1.OPX not supported
Stephane,
>"SYSTINFO.OPX or SYSRAM1.OPX not supported"
The software seems to have installed incompatible versions of those OPX modules. Just reeinstall one of the programs that no longer works. It should repair the OPXes. If you find a copy of the OPX SIS files (checkout the symbian or teklogix web sites) you can reinstall just these.
And contact the author of the recently installed software to fix the problem. You can send me the offending SIS files per mail and I'll check out whether they contain the OPXes "the right way".
Marcus
http://www.mvcsys.de
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Jan 2004 13:38:40 +0100
From: Philip S. Adkins Potter
Subject: OPX installation sadly not always right.
Hi Stephane,
When an installation program is properly written it checks the version of any installed OPXs (extensions for programs) and skip their installation if a later OPX is already installed.
But some installation programs don't check and automatically install their own OPXs regardless. So if you have a later OPX installed by a program that needs it that OPX will be overwritten by an earlier one and the original program will stop working. This often results in the kind of error you seem to be experiencing.
You can find most OPXs (up-to-date) on the 'Net, I think John McAleelly has quite a few. If you can, download them as SIS files but they belong in the OPX directory (usually any drive) and any supplied OXH file in the OPL directory, both subdirectories of the System directory. If you're a Mac person, substitute folder for directory : • ).
Good luck,
Phil.
"I know you believe you understand what you thought
I said but I'm not sure you realise that what you heard
was not what I meant."
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Jan 2004 14:33:14 +0100
From: David Steer \(Plus\)
Subject: RE: Multitasking
Dear readers,
It seems that there is some confusion on what it multitasking and what is not! Here goes.
The current Palm OS is not multitasking, when you move from one program to another that programs state is saved to memory which means when you return to (for example) word the document will be exactly where you left it!
Psion (and Windows/Pocket PC) is multitasking. This means that when a program goes to the background, it is still running. Most Psion applications enter a wait state that ensures conservation of battery power, however, (for example again) if you ran a program such as Opera start downloading a complex website and then went to e-mail started downloading your e-mails and then went to a Word document, the website and your emails would continue to load. Because Palm is not multitasking it cannot do this. However, I believe version 6 of the Palm OS can do this. Multitasking is made even more useful and complex as each running programme becomes a process (or task) and each process has an associated priority. What this means is the amount of processor time (in terms of cycles) is given to that process. A high priority process will run 'faster' and use more battery power than a low priority process. Also, in the case of the Psion, when the machine is 'off' processes can still run, though much slower. Psions have been doing this from SIBO (series 3). Versions of Palm that can do this are still about 6 months away.
For general PDA use multitasking is not essential, however, we are used to it from our PCs and for power users, it is great. However, the processor really needs to be higher specification for this to really be of use. This is where the Series 7 and netBook were way ahead, even over Pocket PC as that operating system has more overheads then EPOC.
Faster Palm devices are better at loading applications stored in the background back into working memory which may give the appearance of multitasking.
Regards
David
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Jan 2004 16:29:19 +0100
From: Owen H. Morgan
Subject: New fields in Contacts !?
Hi.
A while ago I received an e-mail from a German friend with a .VCF v-card attached. I imported it into Contacts and didn't think any more about it, but today I happened to have a look at the entry and noticed that the field names were in German.
The fieldnames of the entry are:
Vorname, Nachname, Handy, Telefon, eMail, Geburtstag, Notiz, Straße, Ort and PLZ.
When I open the entry for editing, the first five fields appear under the Personal info. tab replacing their English counterparts, whilst the rest, including Straße, Ort and PLZ appear under "Other".
It's interesting that Contacts have recognised the first seven fields as replacements for their English language counterparts, but not the last three which have appeared under "Other" whilst the corresponding fields under Personal Info are empty.
All this would imply that it would in fact be possible to add fields to Contacts other than those that appear under "Add Item", but maybe the only way of doing so is creating a .vcf file and importing it?
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-928°07.85'N 15°25.66'W
Las Palmas, Gran Canaria
http://home.no.net/naomij
Phone and SMS:
In Spain +34 620520079
In Norway: +47 92053097
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Jan 2004 16:29:36 +0100
From: Owen H. Morgan
Subject: MnetBook
Hi.
Can anyone enlighten us about what happened to the Malay Netbook project? The fact that these machines are for sale to us Psioneers at a very reasonable price implies that something must have gone badly wrong with the project they were originally built for. I haven't seen much mention of this side of the story here on the digest.
I'm sure the information is out there on the World Wide Wait for those of you who have access.
Owen
Thought for the day:
If all is not lost, where is it?
--
Owen H. Morgan, Yacht "Naomi J.", LD-9311
28°02.8'N 16°42.9'W
Los Cristianos, Tenerife
http://home.no.net/naomij
Phone and SMS:
In Spain +34 620520079
In Norway: +47 92053097
*++++++++++&
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