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Epoc Digest Thu, 05 Sep 2002 Volume 01 : Number 067
Sent to: 576 subscribers
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In today's Epoc Digest 12 messages:
==============================
- PDF clarification
- Re Retro Computing
- RE: EPOC DIGEST V1 # 066
- Re: Gluing Revo Rubber feet back...
- Re: Psion repair in Canada, Palmtop Support Services...
- O2 and Vodafone
- ISP mail blockers
- Fanzine, Rubber foot, Pen, Sienna,
- OPXs
- Re: Tiscali
- New netBook OS?
- Re: Data Sending over GPRS
*++++++++++&
Date: 4 Sep 2002 16:04:08 +0100
From: "Philip Bister"
Subject: PDF clarification
To: Rolf Brunsting
Thanks for your clarification on PDF file size and the proposed PDF magazine.
Philip Bister
*++++++++++&
Date: 4 Sep 2002 23:47:38 +0100
From: Keith Giles
Subject: Re Retro Computing
Steve Hodgson wrote:
> I thought I was one of the few people to still have slide rules around > the place!
You're not alone, Steve. I still have 2 slide rules - both Keuffel & Esser. One a 10-inch Log Log Duplex Decitrig in it's leather case.
The other a 6-inch Doric in it's leather case.
Trygve,I also have the 124-page Manual for the 10-incher. I see the Copyright was 1947. I was attending UCLA, majoring in Meteorology,
after I got out of WWII.
I also have a 1960 Telefunken Gavotte AM/FM/SW table model radio
which uses tubes (valves in the UK) and still works. It has
beautiful wood in the case which makes it a showcase item.
If I live long enough I can show off my 5ive, 5mx, and Mako. :-)
Happy Cycling,
Keith
Sunnyvale, CA
http://home.attbi.com/~ohsix827/
Thought For The Day:
All my outgoing e-mails have been checked by Norton Anti-virus.
*++++++++++&
Date: 5 Sep 2002 00:48:25 +0100
From: "Wolverhampton"
Subject: RE: EPOC DIGEST V1 # 066
Subject: The Fanzine ... An Offer
This is interesting - but will I be iconoclastic if I say I quite like the newsletter as it is? I can read it wherever I am, it doens't take up much space, I've learned a lot from it and I don't have to involke any special software or wave dead chickens over the bones to make ti work.
Or are people talking about a wholly different proposition here to replace a magazine I don't subscrive to in any case? In which case, I rest my case.
Subject: Dream 5mx colour screen?
> My only concern would be screen quality and battery life.
> I would hope for no more than a 20% degradation of current battery life.
I would guess that 50% would be more likely. Sadly, but IMHO it's a small price to pay for a screen that would be really visible. A bigger problem would be how much of the software I have would actually take any notice of the color screen. And, by the way, could we guarantee that a 5mx color screen would work as a touch screen?
But visibility would surely improve. Or would it? I'd hope for something rather better than my Psion 7 in terms of visibility in different light conditions.
Subject: Re: Coloured Screens and Battery Life
Rolf Brunsting says:
(snip a thru c, interesting as they were)
d) New and/or improved technologies are introduced with the smaller screens as they're easier to implement. What's currently available in 640 by 240 pixel colour screens may be one or two steps behind the Treo's screen technology.
e) A retrofit implies that you're working within the constraints of the 5mx design. Which inevitable reduces the choice you have.
f) Another constraint is costs as a retrofit needs to be attractive compared to the purchase of a new PDA.
g) The Treo 90 is a new design, benefiting from the improvements that have been made in the power consumption of electronic components.
But for me the determining factor would be the ability to continue to use the 5mx keyboard on a computer that fits into my pocket. I don't want handwriting recognition. I hate it. I can't read my handwriting, neither can my colleagues, my students aand my wife. I don't want WINCE or PalmOS - one because it's so limited, the other because I don't want to have to learn it. So you can see the appeal of a 5mx, the perfect size for a small portable computer with real power, and a color screen I can see anywhere.
Philip
Philip CroWolverhampton, Berlin and Waimate North
*++++++++++&
Date: 5 Sep 2002 06:54:23 +0100
From: "Mike Fellhauer"
Subject: Re: Gluing Revo Rubber feet back...
>From:Jaan
>
>One of the rubber feet fell off. I have the rubber piece and was wondering >if I should glue it back what kind of glue should I use ?
>
The problem is there's so many types of plastics, it's hard to say what will work (in most cases I use epoxy for gluing). Take a look at the following site, may give you some insight, http://www.thistothat.com/
BTW, I've long lost both on my Revo, and in someways like it better...but my Mako is holding up, but it's newer and isn't being used as much as the Revo.
Mike
*++++++++++&
Date: 5 Sep 2002 07:07:47 +0100
From: "Mike Fellhauer"
Subject: Re: Psion repair in Canada, Palmtop Support Services...
>From: Jim Watson-Gove >
>Couldn't find hide or hair of that Canadian outfit that supposedly repairs >Psions.
They do exist, and I even talked to them today (although the person is going to be out of the country until the week of the 23rd). Someone I know just had his Mako fixed there. Sorry about your disbelief. The following is the contact information:
E-Mail: info
Palmtop Support Services
1235 Bay Street
10th Floor
Toronto, Ontario Canada
M5R 3K4
Phone: 416-410-Palm(7256)
Maybe your ISP doesn't have this site in their IP list. I mentioned this trick in the previous digest, head to http://207.236.238.149 which skips the www part.
Mike
*++++++++++&
Date: 5 Sep 2002 08:22:55 +0100
From: "Thomas F. VAN DER ZIJDEN"
Subject: O2 and Vodafone
Hi group,
Itamar wrote: "Re. O2 - Is Vodaphone using O2 in Holland ?"
Ups... sorry for that... I screwed up. I mixed up the facts again. It is/was/used to be/seems/can be the other way around. Telfort (now O2) had a roaming agreement with Libertel (now Vodafone) to use Libertels network in the areas where Telfort did not have enough coverage. While I believe that this agreement is cancelled, O2's help desk (or some of its members) still says it exists because 'our network is still not up to standards'. Well, _that_ statement is true, but still the roaming agreement seems to be cancelled,leaving O2 callers in the dark.
But anyway, it could still be possible that the GPRS network is down. Somehow, the British operators seem to be more capable to have stable networks than their Dutch counterparts, as I hear from fellow Dutch users. I think that the high bonuses on new subscriptions (for two years now I pay _nothing_ for my monthly fee and I already have the third year paid to me) do affect the quality of the networks. ;-)
Re: slide rules
I am still trying to get the Java slide rule get to work on my 5mx, but the 5mx does not seem to like its VJM. Perhaps a bit too memory hungry. Wouldn't that be cool, a slide rule in a 5mx?
Yours truly,
Thomas van der Zijden
*++++++++++&
Date: 5 Sep 2002 10:51:12 +0100
From: Jack
Subject: ISP mail blockers
To Itamar, Rolf, Thomas... and others roaming emailers. Itamar just wrote : [quote] >....all ISP's nowadays allow the use of their SMTP server >only when logged on via their own network.... [end quote].
Re : I (and probably Thomas too) would rather reformulate as :
You usually have to use the smtp server belonging to the ISP network you are connected to.
BUT you can pop any other mail account you like and even send so long as you edit the the "Outgoing" = smtp parameters, as required.
For instance I'm sending this Freesurf msg via SFR.net after editing the smtpserver name as required by sfr.net.
Concerning the limitation to mailpoping as implemented by "free" Tiscali; one must be warned : "Nothing's free In the octopusish berluscotiscali
network"
Jack
PS Still nobody sent digests #61+62+63 to me %-[
*++++++++++&
Date: 5 Sep 2002 13:36:00 +0100
From: Itamar Engelsman
Subject: Fanzine, Rubber foot, Pen, Sienna,
Answer to: Simon Wolf, Andy & others
Re. Fanzine - May we kindly request that those interest will discuss this matter further outside the framework of the digest ? Please do report back as soon as you have concluded matters.
Answer to: Jaan
Re. Rubber foot - Use super glue.
Answer to: Sinisa Hristov
Re. Pen - Maybe the best to contact www.clove.co.uk and order a set of 3 coloured replacement pens for a few pounds (abt. 4 pounds).
Answer to: Trygve Henriksen
Re. Sienna - Ah, I still have a Sienna. I bought it once for my wife, but she never used it, she still prefers paper diaries ... . They are nice little machines with a lot more power than anything else it's size.
Bye,
Itamar Engelsman
London, United Kingdom
*++++++++++&
Date: 5 Sep 2002 14:50:41 +0100
From: Philip S. Adkins Potter
Subject: OPXs
Hi,
I'm trying to write a program in OPL (slowly, to keep me active) but I can't seem to find the instructions for the various database OPXs. The Psion and Symbian sites are mazes!
There are at least three database OPXs but Psion and Symbian seem to be concentrating (reasonably) on ER6/7. Can anyone here help?
I think I will also need to know about graphics OPXs later. I am writing in OPL because I want my code to be portable and OPL code is more portable than C (which I don't know anyway). One program will be ported from my BASIC code and the other should be ported to BASIC (or something similar). OPL is close enough for general purposes and ideal for mine. Like Mr Lindsay I almost only use my desktop for Web cruising (mine is a Mac but you get the idea).
Thanks,
Phil.
"One man's theology is another man's belly laugh."
*++++++++++&
Date: 5 Sep 2002 15:04:02 +0100
From: "TonyL"
Subject: Re: Tiscali
Just for the record, incase it helps. I check my Tiscali account form an NTL dial up daily. Having said that I get more spam through that account than from all the others added together.
*++++++++++&
Date: 5 Sep 2002 17:42:45 +0100
From: Ajai Khattri
Subject: New netBook OS?
From PMN newsletter:
"05 September 2002 -- Psion has announced an updated version of its netBook sub-notebook device for enterprise markets. The netBook uses the Symbian OS and provides a near full-size keyboard, colour screen and a full suite of PIM, productivity and communications applications. The latest edition has an enhanced version of the Symbian OS and supports GPRS and ISDN PC cards. Psion has improved support for all types of fixed and wireless networking and added the latest version of the Opera secure web browser. Psion no longer manufactures consumer handhelds, but the popularity of the netBook in enterprise markets has ensured its continued production."
--
Aj.
Systems Administrator / Developer
*++++++++++&
Date: 5 Sep 2002 22:06:36 +0100
From: Rolf Brunsting
Subject: Re: Data Sending over GPRS
Dear Kevin,
<< ... one can go online, open one's mailbox, find nothing and send nothing, and the counters can show a couple of Kbs sent and received! >>
Sorry, what's so strange about that? You won't get very far without:
a) The phone requesting an IP connection from the mobile network,
b) The Psion connecting to the server of your ISP,
c) Logging-on to the server,
d) Connecting to the ISP's POP mail server,
e) Logging-on to the POP mail server,
f) Requesting the POP mail server to send out the mail headers,
and,
g) The POP mail server transmitting the headers.
The number of request/answer messages that have been exchanged before you can see whether you have mail waiting add up to a few kB. And the items (a) to (f) are a fixed overhead for each and every mail check. Item (g) is variable as it depends on the number of mails waiting and the size of their headers.
This isn't much different for a GSM connection as item (a) is replaced by a request to the mobile network for a data call to the access number of your ISP. The clock starts to tick the moment the connection is made to determine your minutes and seconds of use. The time it takes to perform items (b) to (f) is then a fixed overhead and item (g) a variable.
Retrieving mail then consists of sending the request(s) to the POP mail server and the transmission of the messages to the Psion. Deleting mail that's in your mail box consists of sending the instruction(s) to the POP mail server and the return confirmation messages by the server. Like item (g) a variable overhead.
Closing the mail box and disconnecting from the server and mobile network takes another set of request/answer messages - another fixed overhead.
--
Kind Regards,
Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands
*++++++++++&
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