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Date: 25 Feb 2003 18:14:10 -0500
From: Owen H. Morgan
Subject: Re: Monopoly,
Howdy!
Itamar Engelsman wrote (> ):
> Re. monopoly - I never heard about such a patch,
> but if you find it please do let us know as well.
Why not e-mail the author and ask? Monopoly was written by the same guy who wrote PhoneHis name escapes me at the moment, but he's a nice guy. You'll find his name on the About screen in Monopoly. It's disappeared from the later copies of PhoneMan.
Owen
Thought for the day:
The beauty of democracy is that the average man believes that he is above average.
--
Owen H. Morgan, Yacht "Naomi J.", LD-53°20.87'N 6°14.83'W
Dublin City Moorings
http://home.no.net/naomij
Phone and SMS:
In Ireland: +353 (0)87 7474173
In Norway: +47 92053097
*++++++++++&
Date: 25 Feb 2003 19:55:01 -0500
From: "Hoffman, Susan"
Subject: Answer to Vlad re Blackberry
on 2/14, Vlad wrote asking if anyone had tried Blackberry. I've been using one for about 6 months, and I like it alot, but it's not perfect. The keyboard is awful. There is no spell-check. I don't get e-mails that are sent within our office system using web access (that means, if my partner is at home sending me a message via the web access to our office network, I don't get the message until I'm back in the office signed onto the network -- messages sent from home via Citrix access do get through). It is possible, but complicated, to access attachments. You only get 2kb of message at a time -- you have to keep resending a query for the rest of a long message (such as the digest). The calendar function is lousy, and it keeps deleting past appointments on my Outlook calendar when it synchronizes. It's a terrific alarm clock. It's much smaller and lighter than the Psions so I tend to use it for both e-mail and calendar access when I don't have a briefcase with me. It's nice being able to access e-mail instantly without having to dial up or use a modem, but it just means I am even more annoyed by the 30 or so spam messages I receive each day (and night). I never use the memo feature or the calculator because I've been spoiled by the Psion. The calendar reminder feature is largely useless -- it will ding or vibrate (depending on how you have set it), but the appointment item does not pop up automatically -- you have to scroll to the calendar feature first. Am I glad I have it? Yes indeed.
Susan Katz Hoffman
Pepper Hamilton LLP--------------
e-mail: hoffmans
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Date: 25 Feb 2003 20:54:04 -0500
From: "Woody B"
Subject: 220-240 Volt question for North America
Just received one of those Malaybooks, cold off the FedEx truck. I have a 15Volt Toshiba "mains" coming and I'll soon attempt Ed H's. RadioShack plug replacement. The netBook was sent with a 240Volt plug. I knew that was just part of the deal, so no fussing about that. But in looking at the plug... got me to wondering. Is there away to plug this into my clothes dryer 220V outlet? Would that work (if the plugs are the same) or is there potential to blowout the netBook/burn down the house?
Back to working on my macro program problems on the 5MX. I've received really helpful advice. Should have things OK once I reinstall.
WoodyB
---
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Date: 25 Feb 2003 21:26:08 -0500
From: Rolf Brunsting
Subject: Re: Answering the digest
Dear Jan,
<< No offence taken, but here I think maybe you apply your rules in a case where they are not feasible ... >>
They're perfectly feasible because I look at the way somebody who is new to the application is eased into using it. One of the things I consider to be very important is to follow the UI guidelines. I may not know the application but already know where to find a number of things, for example. Another aspect is the documentation that accompanies the application in the form of a help file or manual. What I hate is a help file entry in the trend of - This is the googlebug parameter and you can enter a value ranging from -100 to +100. Now, I'm new to the application and may not know what a googlebug is, let alone the effect of entering -50 rather than +40. An application is a tool, not a guessing game, and many an application leaves me guessing.
<< as most of us digesters are not familiar with your specifications, we can merrily go on using sw that does not conform to these rules >>
When you merrily use an application then, please, continue to do so.
<< Could it be that your work in the field of user interface design is available somewhere on the Internet? >>
They're all in-company documents and there's a very, very low chance that you ever see one of the resulting applications in action. Most of the design document concern service tools to configure and diagnose instruments.
--
Kind Regards,
Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands
*++++++++++&
Date: 25 Feb 2003 21:26:10 -0500
From: Rolf Brunsting
Subject: Re: Answering the digest (2 Rolf B)
Dear Rolf,
<< I don't know your rules. Tell me, please, the URL of your rules, and I will check, whether I can include them in my programs >>
They're not formal rules. As mentioned previously, I've slowly developed them out of specification work and are an expression of the way I look at applications. One of the things I look at is whether the developer has followed the UI guidelines for the platform in question. Whether it's clear to me what I need to do when confronted with a dialog box. I look at the help file or manual whether the developer, for example, explains what a setting is for rather than simply saying "This is the xxxx setting" - full stop. I have a look at whether a particular operational procedure is convenient and a guide to the user or whether the procedure is the way it is because it was convenient to code for the developer. I check whether error messages give the user information on the cause of the error - etc, etc.
I don't look at the code itself - the developer is free to make the code as weird and wonderful as (s)he sees fit. What counts is the end-result as presented to the user who's new to the application. When the application has a 'slowly slipping into a hot bath' effect it's a good application. When it has a 'what in God's name am I supposed to do now' effect it's a bad one.
--
Kind Regards,
Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands
*++++++++++&
Date: 25 Feb 2003 21:26:13 -0500
From: Rolf Brunsting
Subject: Re: Motorala + Linux
Dear James.
<< Since Motorola had trumpeted past partnerships with Palm and Symbian only to walk away, why should we believe that it had sticking power this time? >>
Motorola is well known for 'changing its mind', so to speak. Others would say it's notorious for not knowing which way it should go, licensing whatever's available as a kind of insurance.
<< That translates as - you don't need to have teams of Motorola (or Symbian) engineers doing the work, when you can have Linux coders doing it for free >>
This depends on what these Linux coders are going to produce because the smartphone market is very strongly consumer driven. It may be fascinating to see such heavy duty tools as PERL or GREP running on a Motorola Linux smartphone but it's questionable whether this sets the smartphone market alight.
Another aspect is that not every network operator feels inclined to accept that a Motorola Linux smartphone runs whatever application. Orange has introduced a certification scheme PocketPC for Smartphone developers need to pass. And the Orange SPV only runs applications that come with a certification fingerprint. Needless to say that Orange charges for application certification and raised a bit of a stink when people published how you switch of the SPV's certification check. It's likely that the Linux coders referred to will need to cooperate with the network operators. This goes against the grain of quite a number of Linux open software advocates.
<< It is sad that one of the core members of Symbian have pulled out from adopting EPOC in their phones. or maybe just for highends? >>
I don't think Motorola has dropped Symbian OS because I understand it has commitments to release a version of the A820/A830 with Symbian OS for an (unknown) Asian network operator and because Siemens has licensed the A820 platform (Siemens is one of the Symbian partners).
<< Symbian may have to rethink their licensing strategy to make the product more widely accepted. Once a critical mass is achieved they could probably make money out of it >>
That's the situation already as it was mentioned on the 2002 Symbian Developers Expo that the licensees need to sell 15 million units before Symbian breaks even. We're not there yet, the partners and licensees are still bankrolling the operation.
--
Kind Regards,
Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands
*++++++++++&
Date: 25 Feb 2003 21:26:15 -0500
From: Rolf Brunsting
Subject: Re: Searching zlib.dll (4 Jack)
Dear David,
<< Thanks, Jack. Doesn't clear it up any though. >>
Jack mentions the /System/apps/NoMan/ directory. This looks to be the directory in which the No Man's Land game is stored. As No Man's Land is developed by Great Ape Software it explains the name of the APEZlib.dll file - a Great Ape Software common resource library.
--
Kind Regards,
Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands
*++++++++++&
Date: 25 Feb 2003 21:26:17 -0500
From: Rolf Brunsting
Subject: Re: Memory card drivers and adaptors
Dear Kevin,
<< Surely the adaptor is merely a pass-through device to connect whatever is in its bay to the PC card slot... >>
Compact Flash is almost identical to PC-Card - some memory chips plus a disk controller in a smaller form factor with a different connector. Making a CF to PC-Card adapter is thus a doddle as it's effectively a plug adapter. SmartMedia, MultiMedia Card and Secure Digital are different in that they only contain memory chips. The disk controller is in the device in question (Camera, Smartphone, etc.). A PC-Card to MMC adapter has therefore to be equipped with a disk controller.
<< ... In other words, ANY adapter should allow the host device to see it PROVIDING whatever is inserted into the adapter has the correct drivers ... >>
There should be no need for additional drivers as the combination of PC-Card to MMC adapter plus MMC card should behave just like a PC-Card format memory card. Possible reasons why such a combination doesn't work in a Series 7 is (a) some incompatibility in the adapter or (b) that the current draw of the adapter-card combination exceeds the Series 7 specifications.
--
Kind Regards,
Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands
*++++++++++&
Date: 25 Feb 2003 21:26:19 -0500
From: Rolf Brunsting
Subject: Re: WAP Browsing
Dear Philip,
<< Since I don't own a mobile phone I had never seen WAP pages before and still know little about WAP. As far as I can gather it's pretty much a waste if you've got a Web browser and a Psion or better >>
I regularly check the WAP news pages of the BBC and other news providers and they're much more pleasant to use due to their low overheads. It takes me less time to read the major news stories, for example.
<< It may be a bit quicker (and some websites are s-l-o-w) but it actually seems useless unless you *need* it >>
I use WAP as an 'addition to' rather than as a 'replacement of'. Some (Science & Technology) news items are worth investigating and I check them out in more detail using the Web after having read about them on the WAP news services.
I'm therefore willing to make you an offer for the Psion WAP Browser when you feel it's superfluous to your requirements. Contact me by private e-mail when you're interested.
--
Kind Regards,
Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands
*++++++++++&
Date: 25 Feb 2003 21:26:21 -0500
From: Rolf Brunsting
Subject: Re: False Representation?
Dear Owen,
<< The large number of screen cables that fail reduce the value of the machines that have not yet failed >>
The same can be said for a range of other products that also contain parts that wear out and have a finite lifetime. You use the example of the car later in your message which also has such components - the drive belts of the engine, the suspension bushes, etc.
<< Can we please hear from any user of an S5 type machine who is NOT worried about his screen cable? >>
I've got three of them - a Series 5, Series 5mx and an MC218 - and I'm not worried about their screen cables.
Point out that suspension bushes do wear out on a [Enter Car Brand] discussion forum and there's bound to be a group of people who start to worry about the state of the bushes of their [Ditto]. That there's something which, in certain circumstances, might result in xxxx is sufficient to give some people the creeps. You can't prevent nature's born pessimists from thinking the worse. The way they count problem reports on a discussion forum is equivalent to the way toddlers count : 1 - 2 - 3 - Many...
<< You must be joking! >>
It may not be a surprise to somebody that his/her Psion fails earlier than is the norm when (s)he gives it a tough life. My Series 5 has had such a tough life, resulting in two cracked screens.
<< A Psion palmtop is an expensive piece of kit. For that kind of money I expect better MTBF than two years! >>
The MTBF depends on the components, construction, environmental conditions and usage. Your life of the Naomi J. means that your Psion is subject to different conditions than the Psion of an office worker. The MTBF for you Psion will reflect the shocks, vibration, temperature swings, humidity, saline atmosphere, etc. of an aquatic lifestyle. Give the Psion a less adventurous lifestyle and the MTBF will improve accordingly.
<< I do not know of anyone who uses a 100% sample as a basis for statistics where such large numbers are involved >>
Itamar received 24 responses on his screen cable questions but 271 responses from Series 5 owners on his first questionnaire. I think you need a response by all 271 on the screen cable question in order to get a first snapshot. A snapshot that's used to formulate a number of additional questions to get a much better picture.
<< In a 100% sample you will also have to include people like my sister who bought a Psion and never took the time to learn to use it >>
That's correct - you also need data from 'low intensity' users like people who use their Psion for specific jobs, performing the rest with a laptop. It's no use collecting information from a particular group when you want to get a general picture.
<< This will be true of any product. If a car has a fault that appears after 20000km, a little old lady who only drives to church on Sundays will quite probably die of old age before her car exhibits the problem >>
That depends on the type of problem and the chance of the problem occurring. The car manufacturer can decide the deal with it on an incident by incident basis or to address the problem at the next service. In case the problem is health and safety related it will result in a recall. Thing is that you need to know that you're dealing with a real problem. Something that can't be explained by a normal failure rate or can be attributed to the way the person (ab)used the product.
--
Kind Regards,
Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands
*++++++++++&
Date: 25 Feb 2003 23:18:38 -0500
From: Eric Lindsay
Subject: Re: Psion 7 screen cable, shell scrips, map overlays
>Epoc Digest Sat, 22 Feb 2003 Volume 01 : Number 181 >From: WINTERWOLFSOUL
>Subject: re 7Book screen
>I just got hold of my 7book today but looks like it will need to go straight back to seller and have spoken to him on phone today and he has agreed this.
>However in the meantime as I was planning on sending it back next week, I had a look at the forum on psion place and my problem seems to be solved by >taking it apart.
The first time I put my Psion 7 back together I had a screen failure. What I thought was that the connector for the display cable was not really intended to be removed, and was hard to reseat correctly. Psion seem to agree, as they have a plastic panel over it, held down by two screws, and when in place, this puts additional pressure on the display cable connector mounting. This is unlike the keyboard connector, which has a fairly standard miniature two clasp connection.
If you have never done a similar repair, I'd discourage attempting to do
it. If I were to do this again, I'd use a head mounted magnifier (I saw
one a few days after my repair, and bought it, just in case there is a next time), but I'm getting to an age where my vision isn't as keen as it once was.
>From: "Steve Hodgson"
>Subject: Re: Shell scripts (off-topic)
>Shell scripts can be used to automate tasks that are performed using
>the command line in unix - this was the usage that I was referring to.
>I generally use them similarly to Windows batch files (but they are
>much more powerful IME), as a way to automate common tasks and simplify >them.
If you use a batch file language under MS-DOS you can do more than the standard one allows:
pclip = `mf -p %& d:\web101\epoc\*.htm > clip:`
p*sifind = `mf -p %& d:\web101\epoc\*.htm`
The above two commands (pclip) and (p) find a topic in my Psion web pages
and put the paragraph(s) of results into either the Windows clipboard or on screen. I use them often when replying to questions in this digest on on
the Psion newgroups, just to speed up generation of answers.
It may for Psion purposes be better to try to explain shell scripts in
terms of macro languages.
>From: Itamar Engelsman
>Subject: Police cameras - III
>
>I have now finished three files, one for the UK, one for Germany and one
for Belgium/Netherlands. Let me know if anyone is interested. I'll try and find a website "home" for them.
Would Steve Litchfield's 3Lib PocketInfo be an appropriate place for data
of this nature? I would sort of think it the place that many people would search for such material.
Eric Lind www.avalook.com
Airlie Beach, Nth Qld, Australia ph +61 7 4948 0450
http://www.ericlindsay.com NEW Airlie-SF-Psion-Epoc
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Date: 26 Feb 2003 05:41:02 -0500
From: "Ramez Mourad"
Subject: netBook GPS and ISDN Global.
Hello everyone,
I am looking for a 56k Modem + 10/100Mb Ethernet Combine iT PC Card , not the Card Bus one because i think the latter won't work with a netbook.(I think)
I have an unused NIB(new in box) ISDN goldcard upgradeable to GSM up for trade if anyone is interested.
Also i would like to use my netbook for GPS. Please keep in mind that i am in the US in Washington D.C. Any help is appreciated.
A while ago i asked about programming C++ On the netBook.
epocemx was not what i needed.
If anyone out there can help i am looking for a way to do Visual C++ on the netBook or in DOS (I have XTM...).
EPOC or not EPOC?
I am studying CEE and have recently bought a new netBook for 500$.(good price but keep in mind i am a student :) ).
I stumbled on a PSION5 classic a year or so ago.
After using it i was amazed by how small it was and the fact that it NEVER EVER CRASHED. (Keep in mind i try to crash machines on purpose).
screen cable failed. Tried to repair it but now the screen image is very faint in the middle, basically unexistant.
I bought a Newton 2100.
166Mhz, excellent screen, indestructible and the best handwriting regognition ever, 2 PCMCIA, good battery, also discontinued...
now the newton in hardware is the best machine i ever encountered (I even installed a headphone jack for it).
But i returned and bought an unused psion 5mx.
Screen cable failed in less than a week.
I bought a new cable but i guess while i was soldering it i blew a power relay somewhere so now i'm with a good screen and bad mainboard.
I bought a netBook :) .
Still prefer the newton hardware-wise but i'm sticking with EPOC and a keyboard.
I wouldn't use Palm, and never wince....
Am i crazy?
Does anyone out there feel the same way? (returning to EPOC)
Why did the newton and psion go out of business although they're the best,each in its category?
I just thought you folks would be interested in the opinion of a student regarding PSION.
Sorry for the long post.
BTW if psion releases a new netbook (that i can upgrade to without getting broke again) i'm buying it......
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