- Re: Email programs for Symbian UIQ

- Grab / Copy Text From 5mx Screen?

- Re: French Geography

- Various stuff . Lengthy so you may want to skip it

- RE: "phenomenal" BlackBerry

- Re: The Digest V1 # 657 (7)

- Re: The Digest V1 # 657 (7)

- Mobile Phone Replacement

- Thx to Martin Guthrie for www.pscience5.net

- Starting Java-App (SmtpAuth) from OPL

- 3mx - Alive and Well!

- Happy New Year

- Backing-up of card on UIQ phone

- DVD to mobile

- Alias, ReadCis, Dumbing Down, How do you differentiate , P910 tips& tricks,

- 5mx replacement, battery life,

- ProfiExplorer

- Re: spam taps

- Re: P910 tips & tricks

- New Repair Service & Upgrades for Psion netBook/Series7/MalayBook/7Book

- P900 newbie questions

- Re: John Boyce / JBSoft)

- Re: John Boyce

- Re: Proposed system for Digest / spam taps

- Re: Metadigest Principles

- 5mx replacement?

- RoutePlanner Europe Overlays

- Symbian & .SIS files

Date: 22 Dec 2004 15:09:51 +0100
From: Rolf Brunsting <address truncated>
Subject: Re: Email programs for Symbian UIQ

Dear Itamar,

<< You explained you have to disconnect, leave one local inbox, choose another local inbox and connect again >>

I'm afraid you haven't read the description a bit too quickly as I mentioned that pressing the [Get & Send] button for the first local inbox results in a connection being made. Having retrieved the headers I can then switch to the second local inbox, the third ... etc. till I've retrieved all headers. I then select the connection icon at the bottom of the screen and choose 'Disconnect'.

<< I thought that with the email program of the P910 when you connect to delete messages it will do only that and that you need to connect again to retrieve new headers, but I might well have been wrong and in that case stand corrected >>

Press the [Get & Send] button and:
a) The messages in your local outbox are sent,
b) Messages which headers are marked for retrieval in your local inbox are retrieved,
c) New headers that have arrived in your remote mailbox since the last connection are retrieved,
d) Headers and/or messages that have been deleted in your local inbox are deleted from your remote mailbox,
and,
e) Messages that are no longer in your remote mailbox are removed from your local inbox.
Add the actions (a) to (e) together and you'll see that they have the effect of your local inbox being synchronised with your remote mailbox.

<< With Profimail you don't have a unified inbox. You have one screen with all the mailboxes underneath each other ... >>

I'm afraid this wasn't clear from your description.

---
Kind Regards,
Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands

Date: 22 Dec 2004 21:53:34 +0100
From: Eir <address truncated>
Subject: Grab / Copy Text From 5mx Screen?

Hello all,

Does anyone know of a way to Grab / Copy Text From 5mx Screen in the same way as was possible on DOS machines.  I am looking for a way of copying text data from TomeRaider screens for use else where on the machine.

I have searched the Digest Index and I can only see references to grabbing screen shots as images.

Many thanks,
Martin O'Neill

Date: 22 Dec 2004 22:39:24 +0100
From: Jack <address truncated>
Subject: Re: French Geography

Hi Keith Giles,
<<<<...When I do a
Find in RoutePlanner for a few of the CityMaps "master" cities, there are 
some cases of multiple listings....<<<<

RE
Not sure where the pb lies
but some clicks in these interactive maps could help:

http://www.rando.net/cartes/france/2frame.htm

http://www.cybevasion.com/france/

Happy cycling
Jack

Date: 22 Dec 2004 23:12:12 +0100
From: Antony Booth <address truncated>
Subject: Various stuff . Lengthy so you may want to skip it

To: Itamar Engelsman
Content of the Digest
---------------------

>First of all I would like to remark that with a fully automatic system using public servers there would certainly be no way to stop messages, whether before or in the middle of a discussion.<

This is true, but an automated system that required an admin to click a preview button that filtered valid emails and formatted them into a single email, whereby the admin could then make any modifications before authorising its distibution could be.

>I can't really remember the last time we censored anything in the digest<

The TFTD topic was definitely censored.

>The "thought for the day" issue is for me a non-issue as said earlier. Someone doesn't like it, don't read it, and as said I personally don't.<

The principle flaw in your suggestion I had when this topic was being debated initially, is that in encountering them, you've read them and so felt the annoyance at having done so. It's a bit like opening a spam email that looks legit, only to find it to be a Viagra advert.

>as the database of the digest is not on a public server but kept on the Psion of the operator I don't think the digst can be a source of SPAM<

I accidentally sent email to the digest using an account I have not used before or since, but created whilst setting up a mail server. I received a message from the admin that I sent a message using an invalid account, but the message was still distributed on the digest. At a later date, I began receiving unsolicited mail to this account. This surprised me as it was not a typical email address that would likely be guessed, like sales@bla.com or admin@bla.com and so figured it was either aquired by a web bot trawling the psioneering site or from another member of the digests mailbox, leeched from the subject section of the digest, or a member uses the addresses for a spam list. Either way, I concluded the Digest was the source of my email address ending up on a spammers distribution list.

I personally see no need to include peoples email addresses in either the archive or the digest. If I wished to contact a member, there should be a means of relaying the info through the digest without revealing their addresses to me and just because I want to receive the digest, that doesn't mean I also wish to receive emails from digest members?

To: Phil Aypee
More boring prose about c********p
----------------------------------
>But you have clearly implied that they did actually censor it - I quote: "The Digest Team steps in and closes the discussion." I don't recall this ever happening. There have been a couple of *requests* for moderation only.<

I can tell you for a fact the admin did censor the discussion. I received an email asking me to decist from further contributions to the topic, so it would not get any further out of hand, even though I would be subject to further personal attacks. It was also made clear that some abusive emails from some digest members had been ommitted from the digest. If that's not censorship, I don't know what is? I personally am not in favour of censorship, but as I have been recently reminded; this is not a democracy, so my contributions aswell as every other members, is at the discretion of the admin.

To: Various
5mx replacement
---------------
Many have mentioned an XP mini laptop called a Vulcan, but I recall someone providing a link for an enhanced 5MX that only showed 1 page with a picture on it. Does anyone recall the URL to that? Was it a hoax or an idea that never took off, or is it in fact an product that can be aquired?

Antony Booth

Date: 22 Dec 2004 23:14:45 +0100
From: Neil Thompson <address truncated>
Subject: RE: "phenomenal" BlackBerry

To Chris Handley

You are comparing apples with pears - how many phone calls can you make from a Psion 3mx? None, that is why it has a considerably longer battery life.

Neil Thompson
www.neilthompson.co.uk

Date: 22 Dec 2004 23:17:18 +0100
From: Bernard Hill <address truncated>
Subject: Re: The Digest V1 # 657 (7)

In message <address truncated>, The Digest <address truncated> writes
>
>Bernard (Hill), though it's not a problem I'm likely to face could a >huge CF be formatted in another machine but be readable/writeable by a >Psion?

No. The 5mx would not understand the format and would either hang or declare the CF in need of formatting.

--
Bernard Hill
Selkirk, Scotland

Date: 22 Dec 2004 23:34:22 +0100
From: Bernard Hill <address truncated>
Subject: Re: The Digest V1 # 657 (7)

In message <address truncated>, The Digest <address truncated> writes
>>> SanDisk announced that the 8GB and 4GB TypeI CF-Cards are >>> already available.
>>> They have write speed of 9MB/s!
>>> Sorry I didn't have a price :(
>>> Works our lovely S5mx properly with this huge space? >>
>> Very unlikely.
>
>Thats not quite true.  If you partition the CF disk into four 2GB >regions, then (apparently) EPOC will see four disks (with four >different disk letter).

I'd need to see that to be persuaded. The OS would to be written with that as a possibility and frankly I don't believe that the 5Mx comes in that category.

>
>I am not are of any EPOC software to do the job, so you'll need a >Windows PC (or similar) with appropriate software.  I recommend the >free DOS-based Ranish Disk Partition Manager, although commercial >offerings may be much easier to use.

FDISK and Partition Magic don't see USB drives so I can't partition a CF card otherwise I would have tried on one of my 1Gb cards. Ranish also does not seem to see my USB drive.


--
Bernard Hill
Braeburn Software
Selkirk, Scotland

Date: 23 Dec 2004 02:32:25 +0100
From: g y reyes <address truncated>
Subject: Mobile Phone Replacement

>Date: 21 Dec 2004 22:49:03 +0100
>From: Alan Morris <address truncated> >Subject: Re: 5mx replacement
>
>My Nokia 6210e is now getting old, so a replacement might be needed >soon.  I only want to talk on it and use it's IR connected modem with my >Psions, but finding a replacement for that is now becoming difficult.


Alan,

As to a phone replacement, I too have the same basic requirement - talking and IR connection to a palmtop.

I found the Nokia 6610 meeting both without the other fancy stuff on the phone like camera and Bluetooth, etc.  Just a basic talk and IR phone that will "talk" to the Psions. The 6610 is also capable of GPRS.

Gary

Date: 23 Dec 2004 06:23:00 +0100
From: Peter Rand
Subject: Thx to Martin Guthrie for www.pscience5.net

>  I've sent John an email to see if he'd be prepared to let me host his s/w if/when he shuts his site down.  Will advise when I get a response. Martin Guthrie (
www.pscience5.net)

I just wanted to say that www.pscience5.net has recently become my favorite Psion-related website. Martin has saved a lot of great ER5 programs from simply disappearing forever, providing a great service to the Psion user community.

Thanks Martin!

Best regards,
Peter

Date: 23 Dec 2004 08:47:52 +0100
From: Marcus von Cube <address truncated>
Subject: Starting Java-App (SmtpAuth) from OPL

Hi,

I wrote a small OPL program to start SmtpAuth (or any other Java application) from OPL (or Macro5). Java applications can't be started with the RUNAPP&:() system call ("Not supported") so I did it myself :-)

The program looks for JAVA.EXE on drives E, D, C and Z and likewise for the application directory. It then reads in the text file containing the arguments for JAVA.EXE necessary to start the application. This is consistent with the behaviour of the EPOC system when it starts a Java app. The
SmtpAuth.app file is no more then a stub providing an icon and the UIDs to the system.

If anyone wants to make an application from this OPL source, that should be possible and it should replace the SmtpAuth.app stub in \System\Apps\SmtpAuth. The icon and UID information are
available on request.

REM
REM Start SmtpAuth from OPL with memorycheck first
REM
REM MvC 22.12.2004 No rights reserved :-)
REM

INCLUDE "System.oxh"
INCLUDE "Sysram1.oxh"
INCLUDE "CONST.OPH"

CONST KJAVAEXE$="\SYSTEM\Programs\JAVA.EXE"
CONST KDRIVELIST$="EDCZ"

PROC StartSmtpAuth:
  LOCAL free&
  free&=VOLUMESPACEFREE&:(2)
  IF free&>3000
    runit&:("SmtpAuth")
  ELSE
    ALERT("Not enough space at C:\")
  ENDIF
ENDP

PROC findfile$:(file$)
  LOCAL i%,l%,result$(255)
  i%=1
  l%=LEN(KDRIVELIST$)
  DO
    result$=MID$(KDRIVELIST$,i%,1)+":"+file$
    IF EXIST(result$)
      i%=999
    ELSE
      result$=""
      i%=i%+1
    ENDIF
  UNTIL i%>l%
  RETURN result$
ENDP

PROC runit&:(app$)
  LOCAL javaexe$(255),appdir$(255),appargs$(255),args$(255),argp&,handle%,rc%

  REM find the neccesary files
  javaexe$=findfile$:(KJAVAEXE$)
  IF javaexe$="" :ALERT("No Java") :RETURN 0 :ENDIF
  appargs$=findfile$:("\System\Apps\"+app$+"\"+app$+".txt")
  IF appargs$="" :ALERT(app$ + " not found") :RETURN 0 :ENDIF
  appdir$=MID$(appargs$,1,LEN(appargs$)-LEN(app$)-4)

  REM read the arguments to java.exe
  rc%=IOOPEN(handle%,appargs$,
KIoOpenModeOpen%+KIoOpenFormatText%+KIoOpenAccessShare%)
  IF rc% :RAISE rc% :ENDIF
  argp&=ADDR(args$)
  rc%=IOREAD(handle%,argp&+1,255)
  IF rc%>=0
    POKEB argp&,rc%
  ELSE
    IF rc%=0 :ALERT(appargs$+" - no args") :RETURN 0 :ENDIF
    RAISE rc%
  ENDIF
  rc%=IOCLOSE(handle%)
  IF rc% :RAISE rc% :ENDIF

  REM start java with args
  IF LOC(" "+args$," -cd ")=0
    args$="-cd "+appdir$+" "+args$
  ENDIF

  GIPRINT "Starting "+app$,2
  RETURN RunExeWithCmd&:(javaexe$,args$)
ENDP


Instead of cutting and pasting you can download the program from
http://www.mvcsys.de/download/startsmtpauth.zip, too.

Have fun!

Marcus

http://www.mvcsys.de

Date: 23 Dec 2004 11:14:01 +0100
From: Phil Aypee <address truncated>
Subject: 3mx - Alive and Well!

Hi Folks,

Neil (Thompson), you wrote:
"I have been a BlackBerry user for over six months . . . battery life is just phenomenal - if you don't use the phone features I can go well over a week without the need to recharge."

Over a week? Really. And only without using the phone features!
: • )

Then Chris (Handley) wrote:
"I can almost hear the Psion 3mxs turning in their grave!  ;)"

My 3mx isn't in its grave yet, thank heaven.
: • )

I think the battery life of DuracellPlus alkalines in the 3mx is measured in months rather than days (I rarely use the mains power supply). It's certainly so in my 3a and two 3cs. I can't remember what it was in the 3 as I sold that over ten years ago.

The trouble with the 3 series is that rechargeables seem to discharge naturally *faster* than they are actually used. I use rechargeables in my other 5mx, the one that goes to Sainsbury's, but in a 3a/c/mx I'd much rather use alkalines (and I can recharge them too - and do).

Even this 5mx measures battery life in weeks (but possibly not with intensive use off the mains supply).

Merry Crimble,
Phil.

"Minimise your therbligs until it becomes automatic;
this doubles your effective lifetime -
and thereby gives time to enjoy
butterflies and kittens and rainbows."

http://www.philaypee.co.uk/

Date: 23 Dec 2004 13:03:53 +0100
From: Itamar Engelsman <address truncated>
Subject: Happy New Year

In the name of The Digest Team I would like to wish all subscribers "Seasonal Greetings" and a very "Happy and healthy New Year".

Best regards,
Itamar Engelsman
London, UK

Date: 23 Dec 2004 13:03:54 +0100
From: Itamar Engelsman <address truncated>
Subject: Backing-up of card on UIQ phone

Someone recently complained that the smartcard is not backed up automatically as well. I now understand why this is the case. To test Smartmovie I have put a movie file on my card (512 Mb one) which is abt. 130 Mb in size.

Started the backing-up 1-1/2 hours ago and still "going strong" at 2/3 of the movie file .... and now stoped functioning. I think I will have to invest in a smartcard reader to back up this card as this jus takes ages .... and I am planning to add another 2 films on the card !!

Best regards,
Itamar Engelsman
London, UK

Date: 23 Dec 2004 13:03:55 +0100
From: Itamar Engelsman <address truncated>
Subject: DVD to mobile

The next step was for me to check out the "DVD to mobile" program. This program works totally different from Smartmovie and does not need to install anything on the mobile. You get a program for your PC to convert a DVD to a smaller sized file that you can play on the video program of your mobile. Just copy the converted file to your mobile.

The demo version allows conversion of the first 5 minutes of a film only, but gives a good view of what it does. I find the sound and quality of the film better than smartmovie but that might have to do with the different source of the film. With smartmovie the sound and screen are not fully synchronised but with this program they are (or it might have been the particular test film I used for smartmovie, can;t be sure).

It does take a lot of time to convert a film, in general about the same time as viewing it which you can't do at the same time. You are also warned  by the makers to copy only DVD's owned by you and not rented ones.

If you are interested in viewing films on your phone, like frequent travelers, this is a useful and good program to have.

Best regards,
Itamar Engelsman
London, UK

Date: 23 Dec 2004 13:03:56 +0100
From: Itamar Engelsman <address truncated>
Subject: Alias, ReadCis, Dumbing Down, How do you differentiate , P910 tips& tricks,

Answer to: Eric

Re.: Alias - Further to Rolf's answer let me remind the subscribers of one of the services of the digest. If you don't want your email address to appear in the digest when sending messages, send a message to the operator (with only the word ADMIN in the subject field) requesting same and we will show only your name without the email address.
It is also possible to register a second email address, receive the digest on one email address and write your answers from another email address. Again, send us a message.

Answer to: Nicole Carbonara

Re.: ReadCis - But John did write something that worked with ReadCIS but I don't remember anymore what it was. Anyone ?

Answer to: Phil Aypee

Re.: Dumbing Down - I am sure you can decide for yourself, but than we are all not average users of these phones. The average user will have very little knowledge of all features and most users around me don't know half the features they have got on their phones nor use them. How many take regular photos with their phone cameras and print these ?

Answer to: Phil Aypee

Re.: How do you differentiate  - You wrote "How do you differentiate between "personal attacks" and honest, if strong, disagreement" ?  Well, by the same person(s) as would differentiate between messages in the digest, the only difference being at what stage the message would be looked at. An advantage of Rolf's suggestion would be that the writer of such a message would have a second chance to send an amended message again instead of getting the flack of what (s)he wrote.

Answer to: Arabbitte

Re.: P910 tips & tricks - Am I missing something here ?  Where is the keyboard icon ?

Best regards,
Itamar Engelsman
London, UK

Date: 23 Dec 2004 13:03:57 +0100
From: Itamar Engelsman <address truncated>
Subject: 5mx replacement, battery life,

Answer to: M. Garrett

Re.: 5mx replacement - Looking at the website of Flipstart. It looks very much like the SE 50 something. The website reads however 2-3 hours running WindowsXP OS and windows applications,connectivity bluetooth and wireless optional only, nice keyboard but is more a thumbboard I suppose, 30 Gb hard drive.  OQO looks pretty and interesting, but my only remark is the size of the keyboard. Now if they would make a computer like that with a mBook size keyboard, that would be something !!

Answer to: Chris Handley

Re.: battery life - Is the S3 dead ?  I think there are still a lot of "vintage models" around <G>. Is battery life not veyr much dependend on the way a PDA is used as well ? The S3 did not have bluetooth, wifi and other battery life eating functions, not to speak of cameras, video, MP3 player, etc. It had only a B/W screen as well.

Answer to: Moshe Nahir

Re.: 5mx replacement - You wrote "But, then again, if there is no Psion anymore, where can we go". The answer is : SYMBIAN with either Nokia 9500 / 9300 or a S60/80 or UIQ model.

Best regards,
Itamar Engelsman
London, UK

Date: 23 Dec 2004 17:17:24 +0100
From: Itamar Engelsman <address truncated>
Subject: ProfiExplorer

With the alternative email program ProfiMail comes for free a program called ProfiExplorer. This is a file manager program to check the files on the disk(s). In my very humble opinion it is superior looking than any other such program for the UIQ machines including SMan. The folders have the regular yellow folder icon and there is a clear distinction between folders and files. The menu gives you all the usual options like cut, copy, paste, show details, delete, rename, Make Dir, etc.

Even if you don't want to use the ProfiMail program, download it only to get this program (www.loneltcatgames.com)

Best regards,
Itamar Engelsman
London, UK

Date: 23 Dec 2004 19:02:20 +0100
From: Chris S Handley
Subject: Re: spam taps

Alan Morris wrote:
>> One additional precaution I could take is to discover the
>> source of spam is to provide a different mailing address for
>> every list I join.
>
> Not sure how knowing where the spammers get your address
> would help.

It is the first step in stopping spammers:
1. Identify the source leaking your address.
2. Identify how the address is being leaked.
3. Make changes to stop the leakage.
4. Wait for them harvest new addresses and dump the old ones.


> Now recently this older address has been used again to
> receive Yahoo lists, but never to send any.  It now receives
> about 40 spam e-mails a day, so the only obvious cause is
> that Yahoo has allowed that address to be accessed from their
> internal data of they have sold that data.

I have previously identified that Yahoo was a great source of leaks.  Anyway, this is a well-known fact by many Yahoo list admins.  If you use Yahoo Groups then you will get spam.  (Ok, there are exceptions when mailing lists are tightly controlled and have a fairly fixed membership, but they are very few.)

BTW, my solution to Yahoo spam was basically to not use Yahoo.  But one could also use "throw away" addresses, if one only reads the mailing lists using ONLY their web interface.


> Until world governments and all ISPs improve the e-mail
> system it will just get worse.
>
> In fact my experience and that of folk I talk to, is that
> sending e-mails to commercial companies will very soon stop
> as being a complete waste of time.  Reverting to paper via
> the postman or blowing the dust of the old fax machine is not
> that far away in time.

Pretty much, yes.  All systems which try to spot & delete spam after it has been sent are fundamentally flawed (IMHO), and are fairly easy for the spammers to outwit (or otherwise they are so draconian as to be impractical).

The only suggestion that I have read, which seems to have some chance of working, is to force a cost in sending an email to each reciepient.  Of course, monetary costs are not feasible, but computational costs are, and the (relatively) popular one is called HashCash (IIRC).  It goes something like this:

The sending email program must compute a tricky hash function for a string containing the email address and the date/time, and then attach the result of this calculation to the email being sent.  This would take a few tenths of a second on a modern computer, for each reciepient.  When the recieving computer gets the email, it verifies the attached value (which is easy and fast to do), and anything with a wrong or out-of-date HashCash is deleted as spam.

This would make it uneconomic for spammers to email vast numbers of reciepients, due to the total time taken to compute all the HashCashes.

I imagine that something like SmtpAuth could provide this function for Email on our Psions, although calculating a HashCash could take some time on our old/slow hardware, especially when done using Java...  (Perhaps 10 to 100 seconds??  Ho hum.)
---
Chris Handley

Date: 23 Dec 2004 19:07:33 +0100
From: Lewis Barton <address truncated>
Subject: Re: P910 tips & tricks

Re Alan Rabbitte's 'P910 tips & tricks' in Digest V1 #657:

>>>>
3) The is a hidden Service menu on the P910. To access it, close the flip, ensure there are no flip-closed apps running (i.e. musicplayer) and unlock the screen. Then enter the following sequence:
Scroll up (only 1 step)
Press *
Scroll down (1 step)
Scroll down (1 step)
Press *
Scroll down (1 step)
Press *
<<<<

Hi, Alan and thanks!

This key sequence for the P-series (it worked for my P900, so I assume it does for the P800, as well) is directly analagous to the 'secret' key sequence which brings up the Service menu on all Ericsson & SonyEricsson handsets, viz:
>*<<*<*

However, if you don't have a SIM inserted in the P900 (latest PDA s/w, I believe, v.R5B02 040506), selecting '1 Information' > '2 Hardware' causes a complete lock-up (it should return the IMEI number, rather than CPU information, as I'd assumed), while > '3 SIM locks' just gives an 'Active...' message and a looping progress bar, until the menu times out!

Regards, Lewis

Date: 23 Dec 2004 19:09:16 +0100
From: Lewis Barton <address truncated>
Subject: New Repair Service & Upgrades for Psion netBook/Series7/MalayBook/7Book

I'm pleased to be able pass on details of a London-based, ex-Psion employee - Costas Stylianou - who can carry out repairs to colour Psion machines, in particular.  He doesn't have a completely comprehensive or limitless supply of spares, but he can resolve most repair problems and restored my netBook to full working order (power socket & auto power-off hinge switch broken and screen/screen cable defective) very professionally.

In particular, he has a quantity of netBook personality modules, available at a historically low price.  These will enable any Series 7 to be upgraded to the full hardware functionality of a netBook of similar age.

The main points are:
•  Costas is an ex-PT employee with a quantity of genuine (and legitimate!) spares, plus repair equipment, who is happy to offer a private repair service, spares availability permitting.  Note, he no longer has any formal connection with the Psion group and is offering an independent, small-scale service and, obviously, not a full-blown sales, service & support operation.  However, he clearly 'knows his stuff'!
•  His repair capability is principally for colour Psions, viz. the Series7, netBook & MalayBook; but, he can also do limited repairs to Series5 & MC218 machines (especially MC218 screen replacement!).  Other services may become available in the future (subject to spares availability).
•  He can offer postal repairs or, at mutual convenience, a while-you-wait service to personal callers.  UK P&P for a nB/S7 is £15.  He is happy to deal with overseas nB, mB, S7 & 7Book repairs, provided customers are prepared to meet the postage costs.
•  Although nBPro machines should, currently, still be under manufacturer's warranty, there is a strong possibility that services may be extended to include these, in the future.
•  Of particular interest, Costas has genuine netBook personality modules available (reflashed with the latest bootloader firmware), suitable for Series7 & MalayBook machines, at £23 (£3 UK p&p).  Alternatively, for the latter, he can offer a MalayBook ROM reflashing service for a nominal £5 (plus £3 return carriage).
•  Apart from personal cheques/cash, he can also accept PayPal (there may be a surcharge for this service).

Costas asked me not to give his London postal address; simply to avoid getting unexpected machines arriving in the post, without first having some idea of the problem!  If you contact him by e-mail or phone, with your problems/requirements, you should find him very helpful.  I found his charges extremely reasonable, cheaper than I've seen elsewhere and far lower than sending my machine off to Psion France for a £200-odd fixed price repair!

Contact details:
Costas Stylianou
E-mail address: costass <at> ntlworld <dot> com
Telephone: 07850 394095 (O²)

Apart from making the usual disclaimer about not having any business connection with the service I'm recommending, I'd finish by saying that, personally, I was delighted to make contact with Costas and very pleased with his work.  He clearly has a great deal of valuable knowledge about Psion machines & Epoc OS.  I feel that, with official Psion support scaling down to an eventual (and not very distant) close and, presumably, the future of their 'factory' repair service uncertain, this is the sort of good news we desperately need!  Especially since there are, now, no official Psion service centres for colour machines in the UK.

If you'd like more details, check out the Psion Place thread at:
http://www.pdastreet.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=53161

A bit of positive Psion news for Christmas!  Oh, and wherever & however you celebrate, have a good one everybody... :¬)

Lewis

Date: 23 Dec 2004 19:09:47 +0100
From: Lewis Barton <address truncated>
Subject: P900 newbie questions

Have just acquired a P900 (Orange UK version) and have been playing around with it for a few days - have checked the (Orange) manual, but couldn't find the answers to these questions (I think it would have to be a *book* to cover everything this device does, just out of the box!).  So, perhaps, some of the (many!) UIQ Smartphone converts on the Digest could help, please!  Quickly reviewing the level of UIQ postings, they seem very popular!

• Most importantly (and this is what deterred me from getting one as a contract upgrade), I've been unable to send SMS from my netBook via the P900 (with, according to SE System Update, the latest PDA s/w, v.R5B02 040506).  I've tried setting to both 'PC connect' and 'Modem' - the first gives a 'no response from phone' error and the second a 'no Service centre address' error; trying to set the 'address' within Mail's SMS settings produces 'could not contact phone'.  Installing plBeam as the System Ir driver doesn't seem to help.  I'm sure I successfully sent an SMS from my nB, ages ago, when briefly testing a P800 instore; but, I know Julie Campbell (Psion Place moderator) gave up trying to get hers to work and now uses a Remote P800 app on her laptop.  Anyone know how/whether SMS from nB via P900 can be achieved.

Also, can received SMS be uploaded into Psion Mail (unsurprisingly the latest version of PhoneMan Pro doesn't seem to work; unless anyone knows different!)?  I would have guessed not for SMS in the phone's message store but, perhaps, if residing on the SIM?...

As I currently use my nB for all my messaging, rather than a PC, I don't see myself moving over to the P900 as my sole or parallel messaging device, since they won't synchronise directly.  Therefore, I'd like to use the P900 as a compact device for carrying my Contacts (less importantly, my Calendar), looking at web pages and picking up e-mails, as well as making calls and use as a modem for messaging to/from my nB (e-mail & SMS) and www (at present, I happily carry my nB much of the time and, otherwise, pick up mail on my phone via Wap).  Its many other features (mp3, mp4, etc.) are, of course, a bonus, but if I have to move text messages received on the P900 onto the SIM and upload to Mail (synching first to PhoneMan Pro for its search capability) on the nB from another handset, it would be an added inconvenience & disincentive.

• Why does the phone's SMS Inbox show received text messages held on the SIM, but not any Sent or Draft messages stored on the SIM (which could have been written/sent from a conventional handset).  The P900 only appears to permit moving of Inbox SMS between phone & SIM, but this still seems a slightly strange omission.  Nevertheless, a big improvement on the 9210, where incoming SMS default to the phone memory and could not be moved to the SIM (same on the 9300 & 9500?).  Therefore, once received, they couldn't be uploaded to Psion Mail (except, presumably, by synching via a PC).

• Where is the sent SMS counter (as on T39m, R520m, T610, Z600, etc.)?... and, similarly (but, less surprising if it had been omitted), is there any SMS memory information available - not relevant to phone message memory, since this is only limited by the dynamic device memory, but it would be useful to know remaining SIM capacity.

Very strangely, it seems to me, once the SIM card is full, an icon & message appear indicating that SMS reception is entirely disabled - until the SIM has at least one free location, incoming SMS will not be received!  I've not encountered this on any previous, conventional handset (Ericsson handsets usually default incoming SMS to the phone memory until it is full and, only then, are new messages stored on the SIM card).

• Is there a shortcut to set the Ir port with the flip closed?  On my workaday T39, I've set it up as an item on the Extras menu, so that it can be (de)activated with 5 keystrokes (if set as Extras menu item no.1, it would only require one long & two short key-presses).  Better still, on the T610 & Z600 it's available directly off the 'Menu' key, so Ir can be turned 'On for 10 minutes' & Off with just two key-presses.

Strangely, the P900's Menu key does not include Ir or Bluetooth activation, yet it has two 'spare' numeric keys ('9' & '0') - is there any way to reconfigure this?  The best I have achieved, is to set Handy Day as my flip-open app and then use its bottom toolbar Bluetooth/Infrared icon.  This requires a flip_open+4keystrokes+flip_close sequence.  A bit disappointing for a handset designed to have major phone functions available with the flip closed and a feature which is likely to be used frequently.

• Individual Contacts seem to beam from the nB to P900 very well; but, is there a way of transferring the whole Psion Contacts database, directly, i.e. without synching via Outlook?

Thanks, Lewis

Date: 23 Dec 2004 20:39:19 +0100
From: Martin Guthrie <address truncated>
Subject: Re: John Boyce / JBSoft)

Dear All,

John responded very quickly to let me know that in fact Steve L. had already persuaded him to keep his site open.  In fact, he's now using a Symbian phone and so is toing with the idea of writing some software for that - which he'd use his site for of course.

So no panic about his programs disappearing.  :¬)

Best regards & a Merry Xmas to all,
Martin Guthrie
---------
www.pscience5.net
www.freepoc.org
www.foxpop.co.uk

Date: 24 Dec 2004 22:35:29 +0100
From: Nicole Carbonara <address truncated>
Subject: Re: John Boyce

Correction by Dennis Lefebvre:

<<ReadCis was conceived, written and very efficiently maintained by Dennis Lefebvre alone>>

Not quite. I designed, wrote and maintained the ThreeCIS script which did the CompuServe online work, but David Keppler wrote the ReadCIS shell which launched the script and text editor, performed file management, etc. Using the script with out David's shell would have been extremely crude and tedious. I did much of the shell design and support, but I could not have written it. David's contribution was essential. John Boyce's JBCIS added more convenience and features to the shell. The three pieces made a useful package.

Nicole Carbonara

Date: 24 Dec 2004 23:31:11 +0100
From: Owen H. Morgan <address truncated>
Subject: Re: Proposed system for Digest / spam taps

Howdy!

Alan Morris wrote (> ):

> I don't think that postings to this Digest
> generates spam, but as you say it's difficult to
> tell.

I've been a member and reasonably frequent poster to this digest and its predecessors for many years. I never receive spam to this address.

> Not sure how knowing where the spammers get your
> address would help.

They mostly get it by scanning the www and Usenet newsgroups. There are rumours that they may also get addresses from guesstimating what e-mail addresses people will use when getting a new domain name, but I find this highly unlikely. At best, the spammers make one sale for every one thousand e-mails they send out. They can not afford to put any effort into gathering e-mail addresses, so they do it by using automatic software which crawls around the www looking for e-mail addresses or by buying e-mail address databases. The first line of defence is to make a web search for your own e-mail address using a few different search engines. Make sure to get it removed from wherever it appears.

>> I do however have plenty of aliases, addresses
>> that will receive email, but not send it.

You can put any e-mail address you like as the "from" address in your e-mail program, so you can send e-mails "from" any one of your aliases. There is nothing to stop me sending an e-mail which appears to come from for instance <address truncated>. Very few (if any?) SMTP severs check the "from" address.

> Now recently this older address has been used
> again to receive Yahoo lists, but never to send
> any.  It now receives about 40 spam e-mails a day,
> so the only obvious cause is that Yahoo has
> allowed that address to be accessed from their
> internal data of they have sold that data.

I have suscribed to a couple of (low volume) yahoo lists lately, but have not received any spam (yet).

> Until world governments and all ISPs improve the
> e-mail system it will just get worse.

I've always wondered why there is no check of the "from" adress in e-mails. On the other hand, I don't know how travellers like me would manage if it was not possible to send e-mails "from" the same address whatever ISP you happen to be connected to.

Owen

Thought for the day:
A bird in the hand can be messy.
--
Owen Morgan
Yacht "Naomi J.", LD-9311 / LA7QZ-MM
On the hard @ 27°46.9'N 15°42.6'W
Pueto Rico de Gran Canaria

http://home.no.net/naomij
Phone and SMS:
Spain +34 620520079
Norway +47 92053097

Date: 24 Dec 2004 23:31:21 +0100
From: Owen H. Morgan <address truncated>
Subject: Re: Metadigest Principles

Howdy!

Seasons Greetings to everyone! I'll be spending my Christmas scrubbing, sanding and painting the boat. Sometime early in January, I'll be leaving the Canaries for Cabo Verde, Brazil and points beyond. At that time I'll also leave the digest, probably for good. Maybe you'll all still be here when I return to Europe and easy GSM connections some time in the distant future?

Grant Mearns wrote (> ):

> The concept of metadigest:

> It was interesting to notice just how many posts
> there were in the last issue of the digest
> discussing the digest itself. A digest about a
> digest. In essence a metadigest. Perhaps a second,
> more philosophical, issue is what participants
> want and need...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

From Oxford English Dictionary (in K2).

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

META-:
comb. form (usu. met- before a vowel or h)
1. denoting change of position or condition (metabolism).
2. denoting position: a) behind. b) after or beyond (metaphysics; metacarpus). c) of a higher or second-order kind (metalanguage).
3. Chem. a) relating to two carbon atoms separated by one other in a benzene ring. b) relating to a compound formed by dehydration (metaphosphate)

[Gk meta-, met-, meth- f. meta with, after]

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

--- I'm not sure one could claim the recent issues of the digest to be "of a higher or second-order"...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

DIGEST:
v.&n.
I v.tr.
1. assimilate (food) in the stomach and bowels.
2. understand and assimilate mentally.
3. Chem. treat (a substance) with heat, enzymes, or a solvent in order to decompose it, extract the essence, etc.
4. a) reduce to a systematic or convenient form; classify; summarize. b) think over; arrange in the mind.
II n.
1. a) a methodical summary esp. of a body of laws. b) (the Digest) the compendium of Roman law compiled in the reign of Justinian (6th c. AD).
2. a regular or occasional synopsis of current literature or news
digester n. digestible adj. digestibility n

[ME f. L digerere digest- distribute, dissolve, digest (as DI-(2), gerere carry)]

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

--- I like the "extract the essence" reference. I wish a couple of our frequent posters would do just that!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

PS. Thanks to the K2 authors for providing a function to copy the article to the clipboard. This feature is missing (dumbed down?) from the current version of TomeRaider. It was sorely missed after I upgraded (?) from T1 to T2 many moons ago.

Owen and Tita the ship's cat.

Thought for the day:
Meekness: Uncommon patience in planning a revenge that is worth while.
- Ambrose Bierce
--
Owen Morgan
Yacht "Naomi J.", LD-9311 / LA7QZ-MM
On the hard @ 27°46.9'N 15°42.6'W
Puerto Rico de Gran Canaria

http://home.no.net/naomij
Phone and SMS:
Spain +34 620520079
Norway +47 92053097

Date: 25 Dec 2004 22:56:35 +0100
From: Moshe Nahir <address truncated>
Subject: 5mx replacement?

To  Malcolm Garrett, Rody Koops, Mike Dyer, Gary, Alan Morris,

Thanks for your information and ideas on the FlipStart (aka Vulcan) and the OQO which could perhaps serve as replacements for the 5mx. I checked them both, though very briefly, and the more I looked the more I had doubts about them. Though they really look imressive and powerful, there are features I am used to in the 5mx that I did not find in either, the 'thumb' key board does not look promising at all, and of course the price!!! (The price for the FlipStart is not given yet, but one can guess). So I will wait for a while and see. I would still love to hear what others feel about them.
As to spares for the 5mx as a long term solution, I too have two (by the way, what is a 5mx Pro, is it different from the 5mx?), but I would like to have the wireless connectivity now available in more and more machines.

Holiday greetings to all.
Moshe Nahir
In deep-frozen (-30!) Winnipeg, Canada

Date: 26 Dec 2004 00:28:43 +0100
From: Keith Giles <address truncated>
Subject: RoutePlanner Europe Overlays

I've finally solved my problems and have completed creating overlays for RoutePlanner Europe to show , for Austria, Benelux, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, and Switzerland, the locations of all the European "master" CityMaps.

Martin Guthrie has kindly offered to host the files. I'm in the process of send the files to him for his web site. It will take a few days because I don't want to overload his mail box. He'll post a notice of availability when he has them ready.

I must say there are a kazillion cities listed in the Excel/Sheet files. I had to convert my Excel 2003 files to Excel v5 in order to get the converter to work. So you'll see a 5 at the end of each file name. You can always convert to whichever Excel version you have if you don't want to use the Sheet files. There are quite a few files because I had to break down the city alphabetical listings - the converter didn't want to convert more than about 5,000 at a time.

Note: Where a country has multiple files, the .mbm and .ovr files are in the first zipped group.

If anyone has any questions about the files, I'd be happy to try and answer.

Happy Cycling,
Keith Sunnyvale, CA
http://ohsix827.home.comcast.net
Thought For The Day: Old people know more about being young than young people know about being old.

Date: 23 Dec 2004 13:03:55 +0100
From: Itamar Engelsman <address truncated>
Subject: Symbian & .SIS files

On the Psions we could either open a .SIS file on the PC and copy the program over, or copy the .SIS file to the Psion and open it on the Psion.

Can one copy a .SIS file to a Symbian UIQ phone and install the program on the phone this way too ?

Best regards,
Itamar Engelsman
London, UK