- Diabetes Monitoring

- Handy Day 2005 & UIQ Programs

- Using the power supply for the Netbook

- Sony Ericsson P990 Review

- MnetBook Repair in USA

Date: 3 Jan 2006 14:56:57 +0700
From: Phil Aypee <address truncated>
Subject: Diabetes Monitoring

Hi Folks,

Ian, please believe that I wasn’t criticising GlucoMon in any way.

There are just two reasons that GlucoMon is no better than a spreadsheet *_for_me_*. The first is that I should monitor my blood pressure alongside my blood sugar level, the second that it is written originally for a 7/7Book/netBook (640 × 480 screen). My 32 bit Psions are both 5mxs.

Also, as I would rather record the data on a SiBO machine (I have several). I will actually carry on using a SiBO spreadsheet for several reasons, one of which is the ease of exporting files. More importantly, I have rather more SiBO machines than EPOC 32 machines!

Obviously none of this is to disparage GlucoMon in any way.

I imagine recording blood pressure, while not uncommon, is not specifically advised for most diabetics. It could help topple someone into hypochondria (if they’re susceptible). I think I was so advised as I have had a stroke (a few years back) and so my blood pressure is relevant. However that is certainly not the only reason some are so advised.

I hope your daughter is coping well with her diabetes (Type 1, I assume) and that she will cope better and better as she gets older. It’s basically a condition that can be fairly easily treated now, it’s mostly just a question of keeping a weather eye on it.

The proportion of Type 2 diabetics in the population is steadily rising (though why is still a matter of debate). So I don’t think it terribly surprising that there have been so many downloads of GlucoMon. Certainly I’ll try it further and pass on such feedback as seems apposite.

But one thing is clear, my blood pressure should be measured at breakfast, lunch, dinner or bedtime - in parallel with blood sugar (though neither need be measured more than twice a day yet). For this GlucoMon’s Comments field is rather clumsy.

A question: would it be easy to add blood pressure fields (and perhaps pulse, certainly no more) to GlucoMon?

Happy days,
Phil.

“Whisky is the most popular of cold cures
that don’t work.” - I’ve got a cold too!

http://aypee1.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/index.html

Date: 3 Jan 2006 16:11:01 +0700
From: Arabbitte <address truncated>
Subject: Handy Day 2005 & UIQ Programs

I purchased a series of Epocware products in July last year when they had their 80% discount promotion (I wrote about this in Digest 779). The package I purchased was called "Handy Tools 2005" and included HandyDay2005 Professional, HandyBook, HandyDatabank, HandyExpense, HandyExplorer and HandySafe - all for $12.95. Of these, the only one I use to any degree is HandyDay and then mostly for it's built-in RSS reader. I also occasionally use it's weather information screens. Further use of Handyday was prevented by a very annoying 5 second "Creating Plugins" message that came up when it was first loaded and then again for each switch of screen. In fact I was just about to write a negative commentary on Handyday - having seen Itamar's more positive review - but when looking at it again, the "Creating Plugins" message is no longer there and the Handyday screens now switch in less that 1 second rather than 5. I've no idea what's going on, but I think it's time to blow the dust off
the application guide to see what I have missed out on!

So, what other UIQ applications do I use?

** Tools:
NTPClient - Correct the time on the phone using your internet connection. Freeware
#!GlobalTime - Check the local time anywhere in the world (Java MIDP prog). Freeware
Screen Capture - Self Explanatory. Handy for recording various settings without having to write them down. Freeware
TaskSpy - Utility for looking at running tasks on phone. This was occasionally the only utility that could kill certain misbehaving applications when nothing else would. Freeware
SMan - General purpose "swiss army knife" utility. Absolutely essential for any UIQ phone. Functionality that I use includes Task Manager, File manager (with zip utility), DTMF Dialer but there is LOTS more. Freeware
JRC4/JText - File encryption facility. I use this to store all my account numbers, PINS, etc. Comes with complimentary PC-utility so you can still access all such information even if P910 is lost/broken/stolen.

** Applications supplied with Phone:
Calculator - Not very good but handy if there are no other options. Now if only there was a calculator with BIG BUTTONS ...
Calendar - OK, but not as good as the Psion original that it is based on. I synchronise this with Outlook.
Contacts, Jotter & Tasks - Comments as per Calendar.
Messages - I Use it for SMS & email. All ok except for the lack of SSL with the POP3 email client - means gmail cannot be accessed using POP3. I don't synchronise with Outlook email but have one of the email accounts setup to point to my work email so this is always accessable when I'm out and about. Who needs Blackberry?
Phone - Only OK. No one-button quick dial feature, no facility to switch off own-number sending, hands free volume not great. I use my Jabra bt200 headset when in the car and this works very well.
Pdf+ - All but unusable but just about better than nothing
Quickword, Quicksheet. These look good on paper and are adequate if you just need document readers. If your needs extend beyond this, these are very poor. One small example - if you copy a cell in sheet which contains a formula to another location, the cell references do not change. Word has very restricted functionality and poor stability. All Quickapps create a new file if you need to edit them and the result is very confusing from a file management perspective.
Internet - aka Opera. OK, but not as good as the Opera you can freely download. See below.

** Often used Applications:
jABP - Personal Finance management. Written in Java and therefore nowhere near as good as the original ABP - written in OPL - which I used for many years on my 5/5MX before eventually getting the P910i. Having said that, I use JABP all the time and never cease to be astonished at the level of support offered by it's author - Malcolm Bryant. This is also a very fast application and has no difficulty working with my almost 5000 transactions. Full import and export functionality is included along with a fully functional, complimentary PC utility. Freeware
Documents to Go Word and Sheet - I purchased these despite the existence of the Quick* series as discussed above. Well worth it and an essential requirement for anybody who needs to do anything with office documents on the phone. Stable and functionally rich. $49.99 from Handango
Tube 2 - Excellent electronic journey planner for London Tube. Freeware
MetrO - Like Tube 2 but without graphics. Makes up for it with metro databases for practically the whole world and (sometimes) more intelligent route calculations. Freeware
SlovoEd. English dictionary & thesaurus. OK but not as good as old Psion 5MX equivalent. $7.49 from Handango
AvantGo - For those that are not familiar with Avantgo, this application downloads specially formatted web-content for later viewing. A little slow and unstable but overall works well. Set it to Synchronise when your phone is in it's cradle and it will use the PC's internet connectivity. Then read all the content - freely acquired - when commuting on the Bus/Train/Etc. Can also be configured to acquire regular web content (not just the Avantgo-specific content from the Avant-Go site). Freeware
Opera V6.32 - Excellent. A must-have replacement for the browser that comes with the phone. With this I regularly browse news sites and forums and can also conduct online banking using it's SSL functionality. I normally use it with graphics switched off to speed things up & save on data volumes. Freeware
Oggplay - Ogg files are the functional equivalent of MP3s but they are half the size. Realistically allows P910i to be used as an MP3 player. Freeware.

** Games:
LoPan - Usable Shanghai variant. Freeware
SudoX - Excellent Sudoku game. Freeware
Sokoban - Classic "move the boxs to get the man through the maze" game. Freeware.
QBubble - Shoot coloured bubbles at existing collection to disperse those of same colour. Freeware

** Essential PC utilities:
SERestarter - Sometimes the connectivity between the Phone and PC disappears. This can restore it without having to do a reboot. Freeware
Backup Inspector - When the P910i is backed up, the result is stored in a file called "\Documents and Settings\<PC NAME>\Application Data\Sony Ericsson\backups\<Phone's IMEI number>/*.ecs". These are actually zip files and if you rename them you can look at the archive and extract specific files. This is however all too difficult and Backup Inspector will do this for you automatically instead. Freeware

I was planning to write the above before Christmas but found myself far too busy doing nothing. ;-)

Happy new year to all !!!

All the best from Dublin, Ireland
Alan Rabbitte

Date: 4 Jan 2006 14:55:46 +0700
From: Wong Koi Hin <address truncated>
Subject: Using the power supply for the Netbook

Hello Folks,

I would like to know ask folks regarding using the power supply of the netbook. Do you use it at every opportunity? Or do you let the battery run down before recharging? Is it perfectly fine to use the power supply even when the battery is on or near full charge?

Which is the better way with regards to extending the life of the battery and maintain the charge? Or does it not matter at all?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Warm regards,

Koi Hin

Date: 4 Jan 2006 18:17:15 +0700
From: Arabbitte <address truncated>
Subject: Sony Ericsson P990 Review

If anyone is interested, there is a review of a pre-production P990 available at http://www.bengalboy.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=316&foru m=10

CAUTION: The review is a typical Bengalboy piece in that it, err, "enhances" the content with lots of pictures of, eh, scantily clad ladies - albeit ladies fulfilling a useful role by holding the phone. If you feel you will be offended, don't click on the link and if you do and are offended, I don't want to know! If however you can ignore these (and I was unable to ;-)) you can make a number of interesting observations (about the phone!):

* The detail provided in the review is such that it looks like the phone is approaching production-ready status.
* If you can tear your eyes away from the various distractions on offer, the phone looks very good
* There is an interesting comment on a business-card scanner app that creates a contact entry from a photo of a business card using  simple OCR-type technology

Now, I wonder if any of the software that I currently use on my P910i (as per yesterday's post) will be available for the P990 when it's launched in February/March? I know jtext and Jabp never will, but I wonder about the rest?

All the best from Dublin, Ireland
Alan Rabbitte

Date: 4 Jan 2006 20:32:38 +0700
From: Paula1323 <address truncated>
Subject: MnetBook Repair in USA

The connector on my Mnetbook fell in and left a hole. I can't connect the AC adapter to recharge the batteries at this time. Does anyone know of repair shop in the USA, preferably Florida? Thanks in advance.