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The Digest Mon, 30 Aug 2004 Volume 01 : Number 585
************************************************************************
Sent to: 757 subscribers
In today's digest 25 messages:
==========================
- Request
- Spam Blockers
- Unsubscribed
- Temporary unsubscribed
- Re: Palm support!!
- Re: Psion turns its nose up at consumer
- Re: DOS & Windows
- RSS REader For Epoc (Was: Foxpop)
- Re: Freenote308 Re: Emai Problem
- Re: Corrupt c: ?, Crontab & Freenote
- p800 and higher.
- Possible Revo Replacement?
- Sony Ericsson p910 on sale from Tuesday
- RSS reader (was Foxpop is back)
- Re: EMail Problem
- Re: Foxpop is back
- RSS-Client for P800
- What's in a name?
- Re: Re: EMail Problem
- FreeNote,
- Revo battery Replacement in America?
- Re: Series5
- Re: DOS & Windows
- Re: Epoc Digest V1 # 575
- Re: Serial ports on laptops, etc.
*++++++++++&
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004
From: Digest administrator
Subject: Request
When writing your answers please do not use and/or quote the divider between the messages *.......& as these will be pciked up by the program as the end of one message and the beginning of the next message and create havoc in the text. Thanks in advance for your attention to this matter.
With best regards
Itamar Engelsman
The Digest Team
*++++++++++&
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004
From: Digest administrator
Subject: Spam Blockers
Recently several subscribers started to use spam blockers and sent a request to the digest to enter a website to confirm one thing or another. Please note we are unable to do so and reques you kindly, when using a spam blocker, to put the digest yourselves on the "white list".
With best regards
Itamar Engelsman
The Digest Team
*++++++++++&
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004
From: Digest administrator
Subject: Unsubscribed
Unfortunately we had to unsubscribe the following due toe continued bouncing of the digest :
Eoin Campbell, henrya<at>frontiernet.net, tnt13<at>bigfoot.com, West Telecom Ltd, Andrew Marchone, as their mailboxes continuously bounce the digest. Hopefully you will pick this up via the website and resubscribe with a different address.
With best regards
Itamar Engelsman
The Digest Team
*++++++++++&
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004
From: Digest administrator
Subject: Temporary unsubscribed
The following have been temporary unsubscribed:
Andrew Mallard - host not found
Cayeton Valero - user unknown
Peter Marks - mailbox over quota
Randal McLaughlin - fatal errors
Hopefully you will pick this up via the website and correct the problem.
With best regards
Itamar Engelsman
The Digest Team
*++++++++++&
Date: 21 Aug 2004 22:18:21 +0000
From: Rolf Brunsting
Subject: Re: Palm support!!
Dear Ian,
<< What was really annoying was the fact that Palm refused to admit
that this particular problem occurred on this model (the m505 was so
affected by SUDS, that the m515 was released earlier than intended),
even though cases were well documented. When I pushed Palm for a
suggestion about how to solve a problem that apparently didn't exist,
they told me to flatten the battery, which was obviously what we had
already done. However, when I tried to get them to reimburse the cost
of the backup card, they refused, even though this was essential to
solve a problem caused by their bad design. Luckily, the shop where I
had bought my wife's Palm gave us a €25 voucher as a gesture of
goodwill >>
I'm sorry, Ian, but it's impossible for Palm to say that the USB
controller of their M515 model will never be negatively effected by an
electrostatic discharge (ESD). First, because it's fundamentally
impossible to give a 100% guarantee that something will never, ever,
happen. Secondly, because ESD is rather unpredictable in its behaviour
as well as it's effects. It's therefore a potential hazard for all
microelectronic devices, including handheld computers. Psions have also
been effected as some users have reported that their Psion behaved
strangely and/or that files were corrupted after a static discharge.
I've also read of the contents of CF cards being scrambled because of
ESD.
You've apparently concluded that Palm made changes to the M515 compared
to the M505 and that the 'suddenly USB doesn't synch' or SUDS problem
should therefore have gone. You're not asking yourself the question
whether it's technically possible for Palm to effectively eliminate
SUDS. Or, whether it's possible without the solution(s) having a
significant impact on the M515's dimensions, shape, weight and/or
price. And do keep in mind that SUDS doesn't mean the death of the
M515. It's a temporary 'locked state' of the USB interface which (a)
isn't harmful to the interface and (b) can be corrected by a simple
procedure even non-technical people can perform. OK, you may have
preferred it that Palm had used military grade ESP and EMP hardened
components, but these are much too expensive for a device of this
class. It's not a good idea for Palm to go for a no-SUDS solution by
making the M515 so expensive that hardly anybody will buy one. You may
have to accept that it's not possible for the M515 to be completely rid
of SUDS for part technical and part commercial reasons.
What it boils down to, then, is a question of risk. Something the
general consumer tends to find difficult to understand and to assess.
When Palm has reduced the occurrence of SUDS to (say) 1 in 10,000 and
sells a total of 3 million M515s it means that 300 units will be
effected. A sufficient number to give rise to an additional number of
the "well documented reports" on the M505 you refer to in your message.
However, the 300 are well outbalanced by the 2,999,700 M515s that won't
be effected by SUDS. Sufficient reason for Palm to say that the M515 is
not a problematic model as far as SUDS is concerned. Also that the M515
complies with the 'fitness for purpose' clause in UK consumer
protection law as the company has done what can reasonably be expected
from it.
The problem Palm faces is to explain all this to a customer whose M515
has been hit by SUDS and is therefore not very pleased (to say it
mildly). Specially when the customer has read that other M5xx models
have been similarly effected. The customer won't be in the mood to
listen to an explanation on what ESD is, how a device like the M515 can
be effected by ESD, what SUDS is and what can be done about it given
technological and commercial constraints. Palm can talk, explain and
clarify until it's blue in the face - it remains a black or white
situation for the customer. Palm is wrong as far as the customer's
concerned as (s)he has already concluded that the USB interface of the
M515 is of "bad design".
<< So, as you can see, my experience of Palm's support is that there
basically isn't any >>
There's nothing in your message which allows you to make this
conclusion. Let's face it, the M515 has been used for two years and has
been hit by SUDS only once after six months of ownership. The M515
remained fully operational, apart from the USB interface, meaning that
no no data was lost. And the data could be made secure by safely
transferring it to a backup card. What's more, you can't remember that
the M515 ever crashed. This is a very good performance by any standard.
The M515 has had a very high 'up time' and a very high data security.
And it would have received a perfect score, were it not for this single
SUDS incident.
Palms tend to be quite data secure as they're effectively data carriers
that are regularly synchronised with a PC, Mac or other computer. It's
the ease of synchronisation which makes Palm users synchronise their
devices much more frequently than PC users make data backups. It's
therefore interesting to read that you had to buy a backup card when
the M515 was hit by SUDS. This indicates that the M515 hadn't been
sychnronised for quite some time. Meaning that there were too many new
and/or modified entries on it for comfort. Otherwise you'd simply have
drained the batteries, synchronised and reentered the few new and/or
modified entries you'd still remember as they were recently made.
Now, you want Palm to reimburse the €60.= you spent on the backup card.
It's clear why Palm won't do that. First, because the M515 has shown to
be a very good performer. Secondly, because (handheld) computer use
isn't risk free. The user is therefore responsible for taking
appropriate data security measures. And Palm has made data security a
very simple one-button-press affair. Palm can't be held responsible
when people don't make full use of it and are caught out.
You now know that a handheld computer like the M515 can be hit by an
electrostatic discharge. You now know that this can result in the
M515's USB interface being locked. And you now know how to rectify this
condition. Consider the €60.= you spent on the backup card both a
tuition fee and the price for an additional safeguard in case something
negative happens to the M515. Which doesn't necessarily have to be
SUDS.
---
Kind Regards,
Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands
*++++++++++&
Date: 27 Aug 2004 13:27:27 +0000
From: Rolf Brunsting
Subject: Re: Psion turns its nose up at consumer
Dear Manuel,
When journalist Tony Dennis thinks that Psion-Teklogix is turning up its nose at the consumer he's either stupid or very short-sighted. Psion-Teklogix has never built handheld computers for the consumer market. The new Workabout Pro is therefore not for Joe Public, though Psion-Teklogix won't stop Joe buying one when he really wants to have one.
<< Quite why Psion Teklogix required a $136 million cash injection from the sale of a stake in Symbian is unlear, however >>
Similarly, it's not Psion-Teklogix which held a stake in Symbian but the holding company, Psion Plc, which Psion-Teklogix belongs to.
Whether it's Psion-Teklogix that will be the beneficiary of the US$136,000,000.= has yet to be seen. It's equally possible (actually, more likely) that Psion Plc. is using the proceeds to finance a new activity.
---
Kind Regards,
Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands
*++++++++++&
Date: 27 Aug 2004 14:34:54 +0000
From: Rolf Brunsting
Subject: Re: DOS & Windows
Dear Owen,
<< Also, while Rolf Brunsting might not like it, it's a fact of life
that many home users rely heavily on pirated software >>
This is both utter nonsense and a self-deluding mythology. These 'home
users' are the same people who think nothing of spending hundreds of
pounds, dollars or euros on the miniature tracks, rolling stock, houses
and what have you of a model railway. They think nothing of spending a
sizable sum of money on fly fishing gear, a set of golf clubs, etc.
They think nothing of spending the money to follow their favourite
football team at home and away matches. They're the same people who
buy/rent a caravan, motor home or boat or take their holidays in ever
more exotic and expensive locations. The number of motorbikes has
increased quite rapidly the past ten years. And they're no longer used
for transport - they're used for pleasure. Finally, have a look at Alan
Morris' message in Digest no. 575 in which he talks about a £6,000.=
ham radio. The idea that these home computer users "rely heavily on
pirated software" is too silly for words.
Besides, these people are shooting themselves in the feet. The price of
a software package is based on the number of copies the company is able
to sell. Software piracy therefore keeps prices higher than they can
be. The moment your 'home users' start to buy the software they have on
their computers will the moment software companies start to reduce
their prices. But they have to swallow the bitter brew of initially
having to pay at current price levels - a brew they made for
themselves.
<< Naturally, people who use Micro$oft software at home prefer to use
the same software (hopefully payed for) at work >>
Since when do companies base their software purchases on the software
their employees have on the their home PC?
---
Kind Regards,
Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands
*++++++++++&
Date: 29 Aug 2004 07:00:51 +0000
From: Ewan Spence
Subject: RSS REader For Epoc (Was: Foxpop)
While there isn't a native RSS Reader for EPOC, I find the mobile version of "Bloglines" works as if it's a native application... if you;re online at the time.
http://www.symbiandiaries.com/archives/ewan/001662.html
*++++++++++&
Date: 29 Aug 2004 07:15:51 +0000
From: Jack
Subject: Re: Freenote308 Re: Emai Problem
To: Philip Bister
Subject: FreeNote
>>>>The last version of FreeNote was v3.08 which is still available from my website if you are not using this version.
http://www.philipbister.ukonline.co.uk/<<<
Re
Hi Philip,
Freenote.aif is still B&W only
A pity!
To: Jim
Subject Email Problem
>>>>I can cure my problem by replacing the Maylaybook Mail folder with the folder from my 5mx,but I will lose the two or three messages I hadn't processed.
Anyone have any ideas how I can same my unprocessed mail???<<<<
Re
You could try to "Telnet" your mailbox with Jtelnet or other telnet client for Epoc (search for earlier Itamar-Jack telnet discussion in TheDigest).
A nice day to all TheDigest addicts...
Jack
*++++++++++&
Date: 29 Aug 2004 09:14:55 +0000
From: Chris S Handley
Subject: Re: Corrupt c: ?, Crontab & Freenote
Subject: Corrupt c: ?
Thomas F. van der Zijden wrote:
> However, eshell (the command line interpreter from EPOC) has
> the command chkdsk and this gives on c:
>
> Error - Unallocated cluster contains a value != 0
> Error 3
> Is this the same problem with chkdsk as with EDU or do i now
> have a real problem ?
Thomas, I do not get this error (or any other) on my expanded Netbook, so looks like you have a problem. However, I guess it is harmless so far, so if you backup, hard-reset, restore, and then soft-reset you should be fine.
---
Chris Handley
========================
Subject: Crontab & Freenote
Itamar Engelsman wrote:
> My system is to have Crontabbring up Freenote to the foreground
> twice a day at 10.00 am and 3.00 pm to remind me to look at
> my to-do notes. However, when I don't close Freenote in
> between and leave it open, both Freenote and Crontab will
> stall and freeze whenever Crontab tries to open Freenote that
> is already open.
Itamar, are you asking CronTab to open Freenote directly as an App/Doc type? In which case I would expect (if you are using my patched version of Crontab) that Crontab will wait for Freenote to quit. In such a case, you will need a macro to just foreground it, but I can see that it might be useful to have this built-into CronTab...
I have no idea why Freenote might freeze, except that it must be a bug in Freenote. I suggest that you report it to the author, Philip.
---
Chris Handley
*++++++++++&
Date: 29 Aug 2004 09:29:20 +0000
From: Mike Dyer
Subject: p800 and higher.
Reply to Itamar:
I agree that the p910 should make a good replacement for your current pda and phone combination.
According to Issue 6 of 'Palmtop User' there is an alternate spreadsheet for UIQ called Qcalc see www.netrovia.com/p800 apparently, though this one is not Excel compatible it may be superior in other respects.
I'm not actually a fan of Quickoffice for UIQ as it is very limited and slightly unstable, but I feel that it's all there is and am trying to make the best of it. I'd only give it 5 marks out of ten.
As said by another correspondent the built in 'Jotter' is surprisingly capable, I just wish I could find where it stores its files...
Regarding the GPRS, you are actually charged for this by the amount of data you download rather than the time connected. I am charged £3 per Megabyte by Orange I believe.
This has worked out as about 3p charge per email checking session.
You can schedule email checking in 15 minute increments and also specify a download limit to keep the cost down, or even just headers only if you really want full control.
Any email deleted from the p800s inbox is deleted from the server next time it connects again to check your email, hence if you have scheduled a check once an hour say, any deleted email will still be on your server for the next 59 minutes...
I hope you understand this I'm not gods gift at explaining things and am learning by trial and error.
I've found the p800 itself to have a few quirks in daily usage which hopefully have been sorted in the latest models, once I tried to send an Sms text message and it refused until I powered down the phone and restarted it. Also after adding a 2nd email account but changing no other settings the p800 stopped automatically downloading my mail.
Later yesterday I downloaded them manually on the p800 and the next scheduled download session, everything was working again, go figure!
But overall I am very enthusiastic about the device have spent about £80 on shareware for it so far, also I think I have potentially sold a few p900s to others!
Regards,
Mike Dyer.
*++++++++++&
Date: 29 Aug 2004 10:52:50 +0000
From: Mike Dyer
Subject: Possible Revo Replacement?
Hi all,
there are strong rumours of a small Nokia Communicator about to launch the 9300 see
http://www.engadget.com/entry/8165163416226040/
As an aside I think it's great that the digest has expanded to cover Symbian devices, though we need more Symbian owning members.
Perhaps this will sort itself out in time.
Regards,
Mike Dyer.
*++++++++++&
Date: 29 Aug 2004 10:59:58 +0000
From: Mike Dyer
Subject: Sony Ericsson p910 on sale from Tuesday
Hi all,
Expansys has the SE p910 on sale from Tuesday
http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=P910I
£634.95p SIM FREE
or
£404.95 with an O2 contract
Think I'll be waiting a while :o)
Regards,
Mike Dyer.
*++++++++++&
Date: 29 Aug 2004 11:01:13 +0000
From: Martin Guthrie
Subject: RSS reader (was Foxpop is back)
Reply to: Steve Hodgson
> No chance of an RSS client for EPOC to take advantage of
> foxpop's new feature I guess :o(
Hi Steve,
There's one for Series 60 I believe but not for EPOC... However, you might be interested in BlogLines mobile edition (http://www.bloglines.com/mobile/) which works very well under Opera 5.14. Ewan Spence has written an article on this at http://www.symbiandiaries.com/archives/ewan/001662.html
Best regards,
Martin Guthrie
—————————
www.pscience5.net
www.freepoc.org
www.foxpop.co.uk
*++++++++++&
Date: 29 Aug 2004 11:43:00 +0000
From: Owen H. Morgan
Subject: Re: EMail Problem
Howdy!
Jim Watson-Gove wrote (> ):
> I then tried killing the index in the Mail folder.
> The two messages go away but the flashing
> "Opening" message remains.
<SNIP>
> Anyone have any ideas how I can same my
> unprocessed mail???
You need to create a new empty Index file. Email should then rebuild the index. It may take a few seconds, particularly if you had many e-mails in the application. For some reason, I keep seeing people suggest that the new file should come from Agenda. This didn't work for me, and I have no idea why an Agenda file should work.
What _DID_ work for me was to create a new empty text file named "Index". (Just "Index", NOT "Index.txt".) You can do this either with a text editor if you've got one installed or by exporting to text from an empty Word file and moving the new file to the \System\Mail folder.
Once your index is rebuilt, you may find that some e-mails you deleted ages ago magically reappear. Sometimes Email only deletes the e-mail from the index without actually deleting the file. I don't know why. I suppose there it's a bug, or maybe a feature...
If the above fails, there is still hope, particularly as you're only missing a couple of e-mails since your last backup. You can browse the \System\Mail subfolders, find the offending messages and open them in a text editor to retrieve the text. There is some wierd stuff in the files, but the text is readable.
Another option is to use the program "MailArc" which scans the mail folders and extracts the text of all the sent and received e-mail or SMS messages to text files. Scanning for sent messages seems to include the contents of the draft folder. I'm sending this e-mail with a CC to you and MailArc attached, so if things work the way I think they should, the attachment will arrive in your inbox, but not on the digest. :o)
Also, Rolf Vonau's new (long awaited) version of REM apparently reads the e-mail files direct from disk rather than copying and pasting from the e-mail application, so he may be able to help extract the messages in a tidier fashion than scanning the files manually or using MailArc.
Owen
Thought for the day:
Never play leapfrog with a unicorn.
--
Owen Morgan
Yacht "Naomi J.", LD-9311 / LA7QZ-MM
At anc27°45.56'N 15°41.06'W
Arguineguin de Gran Canaria
http://home.no.net/naomij
Phone and SMS:
Spain +34 620520079
Norway +47 92053097
*++++++++++&
Date: 29 Aug 2004 11:43:32 +0000
From: Owen H. Morgan
Subject: What's in a name?
Hi.
I noted with some interest that the digest has a new name, but was still sent to me with the old "From" address. I suppose that if you change the from address, half the digests are going to be bounced by people's SPAM blockers.
The name doesn't matter much to me as I'm already a member and there is no way I would confuse this digest with the only other one I subscribe to. However, the new name does nothing to attract new users. If we are going to attract Symbian users, we need a name that reflects what we're about. I suspect the Symbian users who are currently members are mostly people who have migrated to Symbian from EPOC and have stuck around for the company.
How about having a name competition before we make a final decision? I admit that I don't have any better suggestions and it's probably not easy to come up with a name that reflects what the digest is about AND rolls easily off the tongue or keyboard...
The "EPOmbian" digest?
No, too cryptic.
"SymPOC"?
¿Que?
Owen
Thought for the day:
Oh dear, I think you'll find reality's on the blink again.
- Marvin The Paranoid Android
--
Owen H. Morgan
Yacht "Naomi J.", LD-9311 / LA7QZ-MM
Ancho27°45.56'N 15°41.06'W
Arguineguin, Gran Canaria
Phone and SMS:
In Spain: +34 620520079
In Norway: +47 92053097
http://home.no.net/naomij
*++++++++++&
Date: 29 Aug 2004 14:58:18 +0000
From: Christopher Holly
Subject: Re: Foxpop is back
>No chance of an RSS client for EPOC to take advantage of foxpop's new >feature I guess :o(
steve, if you use Mobipocket, I think it can be set to download an RSS feed. I have not taken the time to try this yet, but I think it will work.
--
Chris Holly
830 S. Fess Ave.
Bloomington, IN 47401-4946
812-339-0938
*++++++++++&
Date: 29 Aug 2004 20:40:24 +0000
From: Reitinger Erich
Subject: RSS-Client for P800
What a pity that there is not really a viable RSS-client for my P800.
I have the CABOT Reader, but each try to add new RSS adresses gives me a panic code
The programme seems not available any more.
.....
Any hints and tricks for me anybody..
Erich Reitinger
Netbook/P800 user
(Archos MMJB as well)
Steve Hodgson wrote
Subject: Re: Foxpop is back
> 5) We also have an XML feed - so you can keep apprised of new articles
> as and when they appear. This feature replaces the old newsletter.
This is an excellent addition to the site, one which is now listed in
my copy of NetNewswire. I am a fairly recent convert to RSS, mostly
being put for the trivial reader that the reader applications were
called newsreaders. In my head newsreader = usenet and nothing else! I
quite like the term news aggregator.
RSS is a tremendous way to keep up with news sites that are used
regularly. I currently have 22 subscriptions to various RSS feeds and I
find I can check this list of sites in a fraction of the time it would
take to open each individually.
No chance of an RSS client for EPOC to take advantage of foxpop's new
feature I guess
End
*++++++++++&
Date: 29 Aug 2004 21:07:51 +0000
From: Jim Watson-Gove
Subject: Re: Re: EMail Problem
Owen,
Thanks for the info and MailArc.
<<What _DID_ work for me was to create a new empty text file named "Index". (Just "Index", NOT "Index.txt".) You can do this either with a text editor if you've got one installed or by exporting to text from an empty Word file and moving the new file to the \System\Mail folder.>>
No text editor here. Tried exporting from a Word file to text to "Index" and then let it sit with the opening message flashing for three hours (went to a meeting). Came back. No joy. Looked more carefully and realize that the normal "index" file (the corrupt one) is not a readable file, but my newly created one is readable. I'm doing something wrong here, I suspect.
<<If the above fails, there is still hope, particularly as you're only missing a couple of e-mails since your last backup. You can browse the \System\Mail subfolders, find the offending messages and open them in a text editor to retrieve the text. There is some wierd stuff in the files, but the text is readable.>>
I did this, copying the files over to my wife's Dell via PsiWin, and then opening them in word. The text is visable and I solved my major problem (receipt of corrected proofs for an anthology I'm publishing). Now, for my ongoing edification, I want to find out how to correct the problem.
<<Another option is to use the program "MailArc" which scans the mail folders and extracts the text of all the sent and received e-mail or SMS messages to text files.>>
Thanx. Will give MailArc a try - one more tool.
One thing I learned from all of this - don't leave mesages in the Mail App.
Either process them or move them to safe storage in C (which I backup regularly to D and E - E resides in my 5mx betrween backups).
Had lunch at a bayside restaurant here in Port Townsend and watched a Rawson 30 come in under power. Made me homesick as I lived aboard a Rawson 30 for almost 20 years.
jim - port townsend - wa - usa
*++++++++++&
Date: 30 Aug 2004 01:58:53 +0000
From: Itamar Engelsman
Subject: FreeNote,
Answer to: Philip Bister
Re.: FreeNote - Thanks for the answer. I do use v. 3.08. It is not so much that I leave it open on purpose, more that during the course of a day's work I move from one program to the other and sometimes leave work without checking what is still open on the mBook and what not. I programmed Crontab not to close Freenote but to the contrary to open it at 10.00 am and 03.00 pm to force me to look at my To-Do lists what still needs to be done. It is the opening while already open that apparently causes it to freeze.
Best regards,
Itamar Engelsman
London, UK
*++++++++++&
Date: 30 Aug 2004 09:45:14 +0000
From: Dave Thomas
Subject: Revo battery Replacement in America?
Hi there
Does anyone know somebody doing Psion Revo battery repairs in the States, preferably near North Carolina.
Many thanks
Kind Regards
Dave Thomas
*++++++++++&
Date: 21 Aug 2004 22:39:01 +0100
From: Rolf Brunsting
Subject: Re: Series5
Dear Itamar,
<< The line "4MB, 8MB, 16MB, 24MB & 32MB" is no proof as the 24 Mb and 32 Mb were never issued either. AFAIK there was no 4 Mb series 5 but only the 8 Mb with the 5MX being 16 Mb >>
When the Series 5 was launched it was available in a 4 MByte and an 8 MByte version. The 4 MByte one wasn't successful as the majority of buyers followed the "Buy as much memory capacity you can afford" rule of computer purchase. The difference in price was much less that the price of a 4 MByte CF card, which were quite expensive at that time. The 4 MByte model was therefore discontinued quite quickly.
As for the 24 MByte and 32 MByte models, the line is shown on the underside of the keyboard tray and is part of the (mandatory) electrical certification notices. Making it clear that Psion was already thinking about higher capacity models and included them in the certification process. Which would have saved Psion the time and expense of additional certification when it would launch them.
---
Kind Regards,
Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands
*++++++++++&
Date: 23 Aug 2004 00:10:18 +0100
From: Rolf Brunsting
Subject: Re: DOS & Windows
Dear Steve,
<< I totally agree, the demand for backwards compatibility has lead to
Windows being deeply flawed in many areas >>
I wouldn't describe it as "deeply flawed" as it's not that difficult to
see why Microsoft wanted Windows '95 to be backwards compatible.
Backwards compatibility does have its costs, or course. One of them was
that Microsoft had to make Windows bend over backwards some times in
order to be compatible. And you know for yourself that you're not in a
very stable position when bending over backwards. This would have been
fine, had people accepted it as one of the consequences of what they
were asking for. Fact is, people didn't. They were running applications
that were using a range of tricks to circumvent some of the limitations
of DOS and/or Windows 3.x or were using tricks because the developer
had the freedom to use them. Too much trickery for Windows '95 to
handle gracefully.
<< On the other hand, starting from scratch has been attempted in the
past but those competitors to Windows are all history now apart from a
few players with a very low percentage of the market. The only one I
know in any detail is BeOS, but I guess to some extent RiscOS was a
similarly radical break from previous tradition >>
RiscOS certainly was a break for Acorn Computers. However, RiscOS
predates Microsoft Windows. When I bought my first computer, a dual
diskette drive PC running MS-DOS 2.11, I could also have bought an
Acorn Archimedes running RiscOS. With the emphasis on 'could' as the PC
already cost more than I actually could afford at that time (I lived on
water and bread for four months, so to speak) . While the Acorn
Archimedes was about twice the price of my PC and lacked the
(admittedly primitive by current standards) word processor, spreadsheet
and database applications that came with the PC.
Which immediately gives us the first reason why RiscOS didn't make it
big. The combination of Archimedes plus RiscOS was rather expensive
compared to the PC. Second reason is that Acorn never succeeded in the
corporate market. In other words, the computers office workers have on
their desks. Which is the same reason why MacOS, NeXT and BeOS never
really made it and why Linux still isn't making it. About two thirds of
the world's (desktop and laptop) computers are sold to companies for
business administration or other. Which has an impact on the home
computer market as the majority of people don't want to have a
computer, operating system and applications that are different from the
ones they're using at the office. I've considered this to be one of the
(harsh) facts of life. Even though I've preferred Psions rather than
Palms or PocketPCs and am writing this message using a 12" Apple
PowerBook G4 running MacOS X 10.3.
By the way, I was already a bit of a maverick in my first computer
purchase as it was an Advance 86B that was designed and built by the UK
company Ferranti on the basis of the full 16-bit Intel 8086 while IBM
used the hybrid 8/16-bit Intel 8088.
<< Other more successful 'alternative' OS such as Linux, NeXT were
built upon pre-existing unix under-pinnings. Even MacOS, while a
radical departure from System 9, could be seen as a development both of
NeXT and of BSD >>
Well, that's to be expected in a way. When an industry is new you'll
see all kind of weird and wonderful solutions to the problems the
industry wants to solve. The majority of them will be discarded because
they weren't very good solutions after all or solutions that had
limited development potential. In time a relatively small number of
ideas/solutions will remain as a consensus is developed on what's the
best way to do things. Writing a new operating system from scratch
isn't such a good idea then as you're going to duplicate in a slightly
different fashion of what's already there.
<< One thing those alternatives did show us is the potential that is
there for alternatives to outperform Windows by an order of magnitude
>>
When you don't need to be backwards compatible with an old clunker like
DOS you can streamline things much better and get a performance
advantage.
<< Or sadly anywhere near it if one is realistic. It's obsolete
technology now and, good though it is, that never really fetches a
premium price on resale unless it has established a cult following à la
Newton >>
Psion does have a cult following which is reflected in the second hand
value of the Revo and the Series 5mx. They're selling for two or three
times the price you'd expect them to.
---
Kind Regards,
Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands
*++++++++++&
Date: 23 Aug 2004 00:16:58 +0100
From: Rolf Brunsting
Subject: Re: Epoc Digest V1 # 575
Dear Steve,
<< A colleague of mine relied upon his ActiveSynch backup in a case he should have problems with the short life of the battery in his HP iPaq. Unfortunately when he really needed it he found that he could not readily restore from backup for some reason >>
Which is a generic problem as the people who make backups tend not to test a restore in order to see what they need to do and whether all
data is faithfully restored. When the time comes that they do need to perform a restore they're not prepared for it.
---
Kind Regards,
Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands
*++++++++++&
Date: 27 Aug 2004 13:09:07 +0100
From: Rolf Brunsting
Subject: Re: Serial ports on laptops, etc.
Dear Alan,
<< I accept the restrictions that you mention, but those restrictions
were overcome in the program called Windows, that was running on DOS.
Multi-tasking was part of DOS, before it was removed from DOS and put
into Windows running on DOS - a marketing move! >>
I'm sorry, but this is complete and utter nonsense. MS-DOS and its IBM
supplied twin brother PC-DOS have always been single-tasking operating
systems. That people could run more than one application was due to a
series of tricks that were incorporated in such tools as WordPerfect
Shell and Quarterdeck DesqView. What these tools did was effectively to
swap one application out of execution memory and to swap another in
without DOS noticing any difference. You were still running one
application, though, as the applications that were swapped out were
dormant. They were nothing more than a memory/status image temporarily
'parked' in extended/expanded memory or on disk. There were
multitasking DOS-like variants like Concurrent DOS and FlexOS. But
these weren't Microsoft products and they were developed for embedded
applications and the industrial market.
As for Windows 3.x, it was largely DOS based but contained a sizeable
portion of code which circumvented DOS' limitations and kept the
applications that were running on it as far away for DOS as possible.
When Windows '95 was launched the role of DOS was reduced to (a) a tiny
loading stub and (b) a subsystem. Run a DOS application in Windows '95
and it's given a virtual DOS machine within Windows.
I readily accept that Windows 3.x and '95 weren't the world's best
operating systems from a technical as well as a user's perspective.
Still, Microsoft attempted to combine the old and the new and largely
succeeded. What people weren't prepared for, or didn't realise, is that
there are penalties to be paid.
<< When Chuck Peddle moved from his 8-bit PET to his 16-bit DOS (that
had more memory access available than the version used by IBM) and
CPM/16, Sirius 1, there was still compatibility >>
Which leads me to the question my former colleague Pieter Breedijk (now
retired) asked when the word 'compatibility' was mentioned : How
compatible is compatible? That you were "always moving (by serial
cable) between both platforms" doesn't say much as that's what I did
between a Wang WPS30 and an IBM PS/2 Model 50 even thought they were
two completely different devices. The level at which the two were
compatible was plain ASCII text.
<< 'Compatibility' has been the cause of much trouble in the PC world!
>>
It would also have been a source of trouble for Chuck Peddle had he
been able to continue developing his computer systems. There comes a
point at which you have to discard a technology when you're almost
continuously fighting with its limitations while not making much
progress.
<< Although I'm one of many that are unhappy with Psion's departure,
the problem I referred to is the lack of a serial port on all laptops
>>
Well, you can't expect computer manufacturers to keep existing
equipment in mind indefinitely when they want to move from RS232C to
USB. They'd have to wait until the very last RS232C peripheral is
retired before they can stop fitting their computers with RS232C ports.
Which won't happen as peripheral manufacturers will keep using RS232C
for as long as computers are still fitted with RS232C ports as
standard. Somebody has to kick-start the change-over. It this case it
has been the computer manufacturers. The started to add USB so that
their computers both had RS232C and USB ports, giving the consumer a
transition period. Time has now come that RS232C ports are disappearing
as a standard feature. The first to remove them are the laptop
manufacturers who like to design the slim laptops people like to have.
As USB can replace both the relatively bulky RS232C and parallel
Centronics ports they go USB-only.
It's therefore strange for the the Japanese manufacturer you refer to
release a £6,000.= ham radio with an RS232C port. OK, this radio can
readily replace an older RS232C equipped radio. Still, replacing
equipment isn't limited to the ham radio but can also apply to the
computer the radio's linked to. The RS232C port is then a bit of a
problem as the computer industry is well on its way to drop RS232C in
favour of USB. It's not to be expected that the ham radio market can
stop this. The computer manufacturers will refer people to those
third-parties who supply RS232C cards in various formats as well as
RS232C to USB convertors.
<< I would buy one, but I can't find anyone that still sells them.
I've been looking for a two serial port one for a long time >>
You won't find RS232C cards in PC-Card format at high street retailers
as they have moved with the market. You have to look at the more
specialist markets where RS232C hasn't been pushed out as quickly. One
of them is the industrial market. The PC-Card I used was by Advantech
which specialises in industrial data communication equipment. My card
was designed for use in electrically/electromagnetically 'noisy'
environments and had such as overvoltage protection and galvanic
isolation. I'm quite sure Advantech still supplies such PC-Cards as
they exactly belong to the niches Advantech covers with its products.
<< I said "expensive serial linked products" and not netBooks. I paid
less for my Series 7 and netBook than I did for some of my other serial
linked products >>
A netBook is an expensive product by common standards as it has the
price of an entry level laptop. It doesn't have the capabilities of a
laptop, though, which makes it expensive in the eyes of the general
public. Despite its individual qualities. Still, if it's simply a
question of price than the £6,000.= for the Japanese ham radio is
peanuts. I've worked in industrial instrumentation and the company I
worked for supplies instrument networks that are linked to a PC via
data concentrators with RS232C ports. The price of such an instrument
network starts at about £20,000.= for a simple configuration but can
cost more than £500,000.= for a large top of the line configuration.
<< I can't make sence, and nor can thousands of others, of removing
serial ports from laptops, while thousands of other serial linked
products are still in use >>
You'll never make sense of it when you're only looking at your own,
personal, situation. Look at the computer sector as a whole and it does
make sense to phase out RS232C and to move to USB. RS232C is a low
level (OSI Level 1) specification with a relatively low data
communication speed. It's practical limits made it mandatory for the
computer industry to develop a new serial interface standard. One with
a much higher data speed in order to make the transfer of (say)
photographs from a digital camera to the computer a manageable rather
than a tortuous affair. One which also offers a number of higher level
services so that the computer can automatically detect the type and
model peripheral and configure itself on the fly. One which allows you
to link more than one peripheral to a single computer port. One which
allows the computer to supply the power to low energy consuming
peripherals. One which also allows computer manufacturers to do away
with the equally cumbersome parallel Centronics and SCSI ports.
By the way, there was a time when flatbed scanners were SCSI-only as
SCSI was able to handle the data volume. External disk systems
(Bernoulli, WORM, Zip, Jazz and hard disks) used SCSI for the same
reason. Tape drives were either parallel port or SCSI. Still, the
number of laptops that were fitted with a SCSI port as standard were
very, very limited. Similarly, the industrial market is much larger and
has an infinitely bigger financial clout than the ham radio market.
This has never resulted in desktop and laptop computers being fitted
with RS485, IEEE-488, LonTalk, P-Net, CAN or ProfiBus interfaces. The
test-rig I used at the office consisted of a PC plus a 'christmas tree'
of adaptors, convertors, interface boxes and serial port switches.
What's more, I had a separate set of interfaces, convertors and
adaptors in either portable or custom modified form which I carried
together with my laptop for field work. They were more bulky and more
heavy than the laptop itself.
I therefore think you're selective in your indignation as linking an
RS232C equipped ham radio to a USB equipped laptop is peanuts as
there's a wide range of low-cost solutions available to you.
<< The sales of PDAs is now falling rapidly. Probably because of their
limitations. Those on this digest know how useful a PDA/computer can
be >>
The role of the PDA is being taken over by the Smartphone - a merger of
PDA and mobile phone. Saves people carrying two devices, two battery
chargers, etc. And these people don't need Alan Morris from the EPOC
Digest to tell them how useful a PDA/Computer can be as they're already
using one.
---
Kind Regards,
Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands
*++++++++++&
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