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Epoc Digest Wed, 25 Feb 2004 Volume 01 : Number 457
************************************************************************
Sent to: 799 subscribers
In today's Epoc Digest 12 messages:
==============================
- Revo Belt Case
- Re: netBook switch problem
- k2 urls
- Compuserve # 456 (1)
- trogrammar # 456 (1)
- TomeRaider 3 wise men looking for expert :-) # 456 (1)
- 5mx to MC218 / Alarm+ / Email / SD Cards
- Re: CronTab & MC218 behaves like a 5mx!
- Re: Power-off Mbook
- CronTab & battery drainage
- Epoc Digest & Win XP
- netbook banking, power off, floppy screens.
*++++++++++&
Date: 24 Feb 2004 07:15:36 +0000
From: Mike Dyer
Subject: Revo Belt Case
Hi,
does anyone know of a stockist of Revo belt cases? all the usual stockists seem to be sold out.
Thanks,
Mike Dyer.
*++++++++++&
Date: 24 Feb 2004 13:46:32 +0000
From: Christopher Holly
Subject: Re: netBook switch problem
Itamar, I find my mBook switch very touchy. Usually if I try to switch off that way, it just comes back on right away. So I use the Fn-Esc method or just close the thing. That obviously is not working for you. I don't have ChaDis on my netBook so maybe it is running out the battery and I don't know it. I have 3 of them, and one in particular seems to run down sooner that I would think when it is not being used at all. (Actually one for me, one for my wife, and one intended for my stepdaughter -- misguidedly)
BTW, there are a bunch of these battery gauge programs. Is there any reason to choose one over another? Also do any work well on the 5mx. Sometimes I am surprised that my battery is run down when the Psion gauge shows a charge still left. --Chris Holly
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Date: 24 Feb 2004 14:24:18 +0000
From: "Victor E.Kviat"
Subject: k2 urls
Jack> Thanks to you and all other Russian speakers for the K2 Urls... Jack> but .... are they any english or "roman" files in progress?
You are kindly welcome. But at the same time I am afraid that I will disappoint you saying that to my knowledge till now noboby developed non-Cyrillic files for k2. All of them are either purely Cyrillic (encyclopaedias and explanatory dictionaries) or mixed Cyrillic/Latin (dictionaries).
--
Best regards,
Victor Kviat a.k.a. VKV
(Powered by TheBat! Mail Cliehttp://vkvplace.da.ru
*++++++++++&
Date: 24 Feb 2004 14:51:29 +0000
From: vlad a
Subject: Compuserve # 456 (1)
> Carlos Rodriguez wrote on 24.2.2004:
2 late cents jic it may be useful:
> ..Try all the numbers with a 0211-prefix.
0211 is Düsseldorf. Köln is 0221.
> ... Or call the CS hotline?
... don't. It costs a heap and is not very helpful ;-)
best,
vlad a
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Date: 24 Feb 2004 14:51:29 +0000
From: vlad a
Subject: trogrammar # 456 (1)
> Itamar wrote on 24.2.2004 10:49 Uhr:
> Re. trogrammars-Is that a combination of "troll" and "programmer" ... ?<BG> lol
... and grammar pros ;-)
best,
vlad
*++++++++++&
Date: 24 Feb 2004 14:51:29 +0000
From: vlad a
Subject: TomeRaider 3 wise men looking for expert :-) # 456 (1)
>>> 2 eminent digest contributors wrote :
>>> ...TR installs..2 folders..in..System/Apps
>>> ..deleted one with no deleterious effect
>>> Can't remember which
>> ..deleted 2nd one, but the app wouldn't start
> a third eminence added 2¢ on 24.2.2004:
> I deleted tr"1" or equivalent; (ie I kept tr2 only)
> and... Tr(2) works OK.
> NB I have 3 files in C/system/apps/tr2 :
> tr2.fop; tr2.ini; tr2.set2 !
> Just my 2¢!
The 2nd eminence now asks:
1- ... so where's TR2.app in your case?
(these are 1-4 k apiece, so not worth the trouble deleting)...
2- But how does one get rid of the 2nd icon in the Bar?
3- Which of these files are useless?
- /TR2 folder contains: tr2.set2, tr2.fop, tr2.ini, tr2.rsc, tr2.set - all
these with question-marks as icon; tr2.app, tr2.aif, help.tr - with the TR
icon;
- /tomeraider folder contains: tomeraider.aif and .app - both with the TR
icon
Thanks for any insights!
best,
vlad
*++++++++++&
Date: 24 Feb 2004 15:18:34 +0000
From: Rick Gillyon
Subject: 5mx to MC218 / Alarm+ / Email / SD Cards
> From: Max Ozinsky
> My question is this: because I did a full restore from the
> 5mx backup my MC218 now behaves like a 5mx.
Nope, just delete shell.ini and the email app off the C Drive (in ROM on MC218). Soft-reset and everything should be fine.
Itamar wrote:
> Re. Power-off - Thanks for the idea of an alarm, but I use
> AlarmPlus to stop alarms from finishing my battery charge
...
> Could it be that your correction
> causes the Psion to stay on power after an alarm ?
I don't know if you are experiencing the same problem, but when I had Alarm+ installed on my 5mx, the unit often failed to switch off automatically. After removing Alarm+, all was fine.
> From: Antony
> What I meant by poor is the lack of features you would expect
> such as signatures and possibly HTML email.
It seems bizarre to me that people are happy with EPOC's on-board email. It has poor quoting, it's slow, it's too easy to overload and corrupt its indexes, no multi-account checking, no ability to download automatically, no filtering, no sigs, no decent address book with groups, no one-button reading, no redirection, no decent headers. It's usable, and has so few features it's not susceptible to viruses, but compared with a full-blown client it's a total pain to use.
> From: J
> Please has any one got any ideas where I can buy the cheapest
> Secure Digital or MMC cards?
Historically www.zxpro.com was reasonably fast and very cheap, but now I think dabs.com is cheaper than anyone else. Also try expansys.co.uk. Dabs have a 512MB Kingston SD for 105.
Rgds,
Rick
*++++++++++&
Date: 24 Feb 2004 17:03:11 +0000
From: Chris S Handley
Subject: Re: CronTab & MC218 behaves like a 5mx!
Hello Itamar,
I don't see how my fix could cause that. To me it seems more likely that the mBook's open/close lid microswitch is faulty, although I can't see why it would not auto switch-off.
Really I'd need to speak to someone who is an expert on Symbian OS, specifically what situations the OS might ignore the auto switch-off timer, before I could suggest anything further.
FWIW, I've had my Netbook occasionally completely drained, as if it didn't switch off when I closed it - and it ignored the auto switch-off timer. Since I don't use it for any Alarms, that is not a possibility.
Regards,
Chris Handley
P.S. You copied your Digest email to me, so I replied to you personally. I am now having to forward this email to the Digest. If possible could you avoid sending an email to me twice in the future?! Thanks.
P.P.S. I have not yet recieved the Emulator Hints, unlike another Digest member.
________________ Reply Header ________________
Subject: CronTab
Author: Itamar Engelsman
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2004 23:22:42 +0000
Hi Chris,
Interesting, tonight I had a weekly alarm go off at 7.00 pm, I stopped the alarm and the mBook switched off. However, at 11.18 pm I switched on and noticed that Chadis showed 4 hours of usage on the Psion. Could it be that your correction causes the Psion to stay on power after an alarm ?
Best regards,
Itamar Engelsman
London, UK
============
Subject: MC218 behaves like a 5mx!
> My question is this: because I did a full restore from the
> 5mx backup my MC218 now behaves like a 5mx. The applications
> activated by the touch screen are those of the 5mx and not
> the MC218, although all the MC218 applications which the 5mx
No need for a hard reset or anything like that, just delete the C:\System\Apps\Shell\Shell.ini file.
---
Chris Handley
*++++++++++&
Date: 24 Feb 2004 20:13:11 +0000
From: Jaap Laméris
Subject: Re: Power-off Mbook
Itamer wrote:
>Answer to: Trygve Henriksen
>Re. Power-off - Thanks for the idea of an alarm, but I use AlarmPlus to stop alarms from finishing my battery >charge and the mBook should switch off again after an alarm (set to 3 minutes in Control Panel). Also, no one >reacted to my problem that sometimes it takes 3 times to switch off my mBook, the first two times it switches off >and immediately on again. No one has got this problem ? (Finally I can make a claim to be unique .... <G>).
Sorry Itamer, your are not unique, at least not in this respect. I have the same problem with my Mbook and it takes a lot more than 6 times to switch off. I have learned now to use Fn-esc to shut down the Mbook instead of using the switch in the left upper corner. Although I also am using alarm+ and crontab, I don´t have your other problem with the battery drainage. However, I have another problem with Crontab, that it does´nt start a program like Fastbackup (or any other program) at the time defined, but only when the Mbook has been opened after the time has been passed. Are there other persons with this problem and found the cause for this?? I know that at least one other person on this list also has this problem, but others don´t have this or are able to reproduce this.
Many thanks in advance for a solution for this problem.
Jaap Laméris.
Emmeloord, NL
*++++++++++&
Date: 24 Feb 2004 22:22:39 +0000
From: Itamar Engelsman
Subject: CronTab & battery drainage
I have now discovered that it is not CronTab that causes my problem. I switched off the automatic switch-on upon opening the mBook and it appears that the drainage of the battery without using the mBook has stopped.
I will follow this up carefully over the coming days and reconfirm this.
Best regards,
Itamar Engelsman
London, UK
*++++++++++&
Date: 24 Feb 2004 23:48:13 +0000
From: Alan Morris
Subject: Epoc Digest & Win XP
Itamar Engelsman wrote:-
> I am also amazed that the digest is still going strong,
> but I suppose it is partially also a group of
> "cyber-friends" that like to keep in contact. Besides,
> also amazingly, from time to time I still find new
> software for my Psions, new ideas aand new solutions to
> problems. After all those years, even though not in
> production anymore, the platform is still very much alive
> !
Itamar this Digest is unlike any other list/digest that I've ever been a member of. Possibly also helped by the Digest Team removing some of the extra stuff that just appears elsewhere - like quoted replies without any new text.
As well as the points you make, it has sensible folk with real practical knowledge of Psions and other devices. Folk that want to help others, rather than folk that just want to see their own comments published.
Often OT subjects are raised without the usual banter, which nicely leads to a discovery I made on Sunday. I bought a WinXP laptop a year ago mainly for managing and displaying digital photos. Something that Psions are not particularly good at.
I had setup two users so that Carol had her own desktop, but she had not used it until Sunday. She uses WinXP at work, so knows it well. I decided to rename her 'My Documents' to 'Carol's Documents' and put a shortcut on her desk top. (As also having a 'My Documents' when I'm logged on would be likely to cause problems, I also renamed mine.)
Then some of her files just disappeared. WinXP had produced a new 'My Documents' folder under her path and moved her files. It appears that WinXP plays games changing folder names. It also renamed the name of the shortcut mentioned above.
I've not fully investigated what's happening yet, but don't rename 'My Documents' and similar folders in that path. It also appears to rename other user's folder names depending on whose logged on. As Digest members use WinXP to backup their Psions, this could be considered on-topic.
Most confusing for making backups of Windows folders as you may not be backing up what you thought you were. I've decided not to use these folders in the future.
--
Alan R Morris, G4ENS.
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, UK.
Using a Psion netBook & Nokia 6210e.
*++++++++++&
Date: 25 Feb 2004 00:48:03 +0000
From: Trygve Henriksen
Subject: netbook banking, power off, floppy screens.
Greetings!
> I am using a netBook and am having difficulty doing operations that
> require security. I am able to access my bank and get all the balances
> but as soon as I want to do a transaction (like paying a creditor) it freezes.
I would ask the bank if the site needs to load a Java applet on the computer or are using M$ Internet Exploder exclusive code somewhere.
If the answer is 'yes', you're probably up the creek without a paddle.
I don't have any problems logging in to and paying my bills on my netbank.
(Except for the times the account is overdrawn, but that's another history :-)
But I assume that a Norwegian bank isn't the answer....
----
Itamar wrote:
> Re. Power-off - Thanks for the idea of an alarm, but I use AlarmPlus to
> stop alarms from finishing my battery charge and the mBook should
> switch off again after an alarm (set to 3 minutes in Control Panel).
> Also, no one reacted to my problem that sometimes it takes 3 times
> to switch off my mBook, the first two times it switches off and
> immediately on again. No one has got this problem ?
That sometimes happens on my netBook, too...
But only when I use the sliding switch, not if I press [Fn]+[Esc]
I think there may be a 'debounce' problem with the signal from the switch.
>> Re. Don't forget wine...
> - Red whine to be exact. White wine does not keep longer than a few
> years.
I've never bought any whine, and the only red wine I've ever drunk was a glass of non-alcoholic wine. It tasted... not good...
(I'm sticking to the local Pineapple flavoured carbonated tooth-rot :-)
----
Owen H. Morgan wrote:
> I just had a thought. Most of you are probably aware of metal with
> a memory, used amongst other things for spectacle frames that
> can be bent in all directions and and will return to their normal shape.
> This might be useful for the frame for a floppy screen.
Nope.
I've played with a few such metals, and the basic rules still apply.
Metal thin enough to bend easily enough to be rolled into the machine will not be rigid enough to support a screen.
Also, these kinds of metal need HEAT to return to the original shape.
(In the case of Nitinol strands known as 'muscle-wire' it equates to a150mA current for a 0.1mm strand, and 400mA for a 0.15mm strand. And they tend to need a temperature of 70°C or more. Yes, I tinker with a lot of stuff :-)
A better option would be to use some sort of 'scissors action' system hidden behind the screen. This could even be motorized as modern 'pager' or vibrator motors are very small and power efficient. (I've seen them as small as 7mm diameter, and 5mm length, and down to 4mm diameter if they can be longer)
> Hmm It might not work at all. Touch sensitivity may need a hard back
> for something to press against.
Not that it's absolutely necessary with touch-screen technology.
The S3 series didn't have it, and they were successful, right?
(The software 'hooks' for it is in the OS, though. Probably a remnant from the touchpad on the MC series laptop)
Nokia's 9000, 9110, 9210 and the new 9500 communicators don't have touch-screen technology, either.
(Maybe I can finally afford a 9210 now that the 9500 has been announced :-)
---
Antony
> I suppose you're right about needing a flat surface. With a floppy screen,
> they could have a keyboard similar to a Nokia communicator, where the
> phone opens like a book, but using the space used for the screen area
> aswell as the floppy screen would not require the space?
Exactly. The Nokia's size is dictated by three major items:
Keyboard
Screen
Battery
The screen is the major drain on the batteries, so if these new floppy screens are as low-power as is claimed, the battery could be scaled down.
Also, if we're not talking about a 'communicator' or smartphone, it could be shrunk even further. (But bluetooth will add to it again)
Since the floppy screen can be rolled up, the only dimensions it dictates is the width and thickness of the machine. (It must accommodate the roll)
That leaves the keyboard. If left as on a communicator, you don't gain much from the current designs. (You can only shrink the keys so far before they become unusable. The Siena is close to the limit, the Siemens IC35 'unifier' passed it, and most cell-phones are ridiculous...) That's why I suggested the split top/bottom, effectively halving the depth of the machine.
It'll be a fairly thick 'stick' but should still only be about half the volume of a Nokia Communicator.
Any design engineers from Nokia or Psion on the list?
If so, feel free to use my ideas, but I won't say no to a free sample...
(I'm an optimist :-)
-------
A snip from the latest Symbian newsletter:
---
[0D] UIQ gets OPL
OPL, the free open source interpreted BASIC-like language
purpose-built for Symbian OS, is now available on the UIQ user
interface platform. Developers can chose to develop their
applications, services and content for UIQ based mobile phones in
C++, Java, .Net or OPL.
"With the UIQ release of OPL, the OPL project can begin to show the
'write once run everywhere' nature of OPL over the entire Symbian OS
range of devices" said Ewan Spence, OPL documentation maintainer and
OPL application developer. Rick Andrews, co-maintainer of the OPL
project and Senior Technical Consultant at Symbian Ltd. reinforced
that "OPL as an open source project has the support of the Symbian OS
ecosystem".
Download the OPL runtime and / or development tools at:
http://tn01.com/symbian/sbct.cgi?s=934340294&i=934860&m=1&d=5456362
The OPL blog:
http://tn01.com/symbian/sbct.cgi?s=934340294&i=934860&m=1&d=5456363
Read the press release:
http://tn01.com/symbian/sbct.cgi?s=934340294&i=934860&m=1&d=5456364
---
:-)
Trygve
*++++++++++&
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