- Re: Executive Indecision - and more; use of Psion

- PsionWiki

- About the 9500

- Re:psions & botany.

Date: 30 Jun 2006 08:24:43 +0000
From: Bruce A.Knox <address truncated>
Subject: Re: Executive Indecision - and more; use of Psion

Thanks Phil, for this straightening out and update: and doesn't David 
Suchet make an excellent villain.  Stimulated by this, I now recall 
also seeing an S3a in the hands of a villain in The Bill in days of 
yore - so not only right thinkers are on board. The latest however 
was two nights ago. In Grumpy Old Women no fewer than two of the 
interviewees were wielding 5mx-es. Being a Grumpy Old Other Sort I 
was delighted to see that such people endorse our favourite little 
machine.

As for the use made of Psions, Itamar, I have to admit that I am one 
of the less adventurous of the brotherhood. My 5mx is my calendar and 
address-book. My NetBook (Malay Book upgraded, with a 7Malaybook in 
reserve) is in constant use for note-taking (Data) and transcription 
of documents (Word). I do the odd bit of jotting, and with the aid of 
nConvert and wi-fi I can transfer files back and forth between Psion 
and Mac (Apple Airport and Airport Express) with the minimum of fuss; 
Data files can be easily adapted on the Mac for a program called 
iData Pro. The other program I use most on the Psion is Fast Backup, 
a little marvel.

I no longer print from the Psion - it is just too slooow; nor do I 
use it for email except on some occasions when a mobile phone 
connection is all I have - but it is dicey, because I find the IMAP4 
implementation on Psion is unreliable. Web on the Psion, even with wi-
fi connection to a broadband cable modem, is fairly unsatisfactory 
alas, so that email collection route is more or less out as well. My 
eMac, running the latest OS X and with the Apple Mail program and 
Firefox, just does all that sort of thing so well (and internet cafes 
are all over the place when away from home). I've managed to lose my 
installation file for Routeplanner UK, which now exists only on my 
5mx; and Streetplanner tells me I must re-install from the CD - which 
is not practical for a Mac user: perhaps I must creep to a Windows 
friend in preparation for another visit to the U.K..

At times I am sorely tempted to get what is now called a MacBook, 
which sounds like a beautiful little laptop and will run Windows 
programs, if desired, I believe - perhaps even PsiWin!. But would it 
replace 5mx and NetBook. No! Not a chance. The idea of lugging 
anything even of that size on an international (or other) flight, or 
into libraries and archives, is fearful. As for the admittedly sweet-
sounding various Symbian phones/cameras/viewers/pdas/players, etc - 
well, no - not as long as my 5mx and Ericsson T28i  hold out. For 
carrying operas and other works of various composers around with me, 
I'd sooner get an upgrade  for my iPod. Yes indeed.

Let's hope the subscriber list doesn't fall off much more. I value it 
much and wish I could be a more useful correspondent.

Vivat Psion ------ BK

> From: Phil Aypee
>
> Hi Folks,
>
> Bruce, the film was “Executive Decision” and starred Kurt Russell. 
> The villain was David Suchet.
>
> A Psion, SiBO flavour too, was in an episode of “A Touch Of 
> Frost” (do you get that in Oz). Periodically there are references 
> to Psions in films/on TV on the NGs or at PsionPlace.
>
> Of greater interest is the fact that Psions (3as) were taken by a 
> group of botanists to the high Himalayas as they were not only more 
> rugged than anything else otherwise suitable they were resistant to 
> the cold. When a Psion froze (literally) it just stopped. When it 
> started again there was no loss of data, the thing simply unfroze 
> with all applications and documents as they were before!

Date: 30 Jun 2006 17:17:32 +0000
From: Chris Cooper
Subject: PsionWiki

PsionWiki

Do you know what I'd dearly love to see? A Psion wiki.

I'd like to see all the Psion wisdom scattered through this Digest's archives and across the Web consolidated, linked and then progressively improved in a Wikipedia-like structure.

In case there's anybody out there who still doesn't know what a wiki is: it's an online resource that can be freely edited by its (registered) users. The mother of wikis, Wikipedia, is now a behemoth that's challenging conventional encyclopaedias in all areas, and beating them hollow in many.

I don't foresee many people devoting large chunks of their lives to writing scholarly essays on this, that or the other facet of Psion technology; that's all been done. It's all out there, but hard to find and unorganised. I see contributors as

· Reproducing existing articles, where the authors give permission (which means they will be revised by the wiki's users as time passes).
· Writing short round-up articles with lots of links to Web resources.
· Writing brief notes on some aspect of the Psion that interests them, which gradually snowball into larger articles as others add to them.

Imagine how a Web resource would be transformed if its author allowed it to be incorporated into the wiki; it would come to life and start to develop as other enthusiasts improved it and added to it.

Imagine that, instead of googling for some piece of Psion esoterica, and ploughing through scores of irrelevant and obscure sites, you went first to PsionWiki and found it described, and put in context, and linked to, in a clear and comprehensible interface. (Look at Wikipedia to see how good a wiki's interface can be.)

Imagine that anybody (well, almost anybody) could throw in their two-penn'orth on that little trick that they learned about years ago and that very few contributors to the Digest seem to know about.

There's already a Psion-related wiki in existence. The OPL Wiki is at http://www.allaboutopl.com/wiki/OPLWikiHome, but it seems to be stagnant. Perhaps it could be turned into the core of PsionWiki? A PsionWiki that would include the whole spectrum of knowledge from the highly technical stuff that's now there down to the sort of low-level user's info that people like me could provide: undocumented commands in installed apps, public-domain registration keys, pros and cons of different utilities, step-by-step how-tos, what hardware can link to what  - all the hints and tips that appear in the Digest, but necessarily are disorganized and hard to find.

I have no idea what this would take: what software is available to run it, what server power and space it would require, just how much effort volunteers would have to put into running it. I haven't a clue. Is there anybody who has experience with wikis and can give some guidance? Are there any of our great gurus who would feel happy at subjecting their past Web creations to the wiki treatment? And is there anyone else who thinks a PsionWiki is a good - no, a great - no, a fantastic idea?

Hopefully,

Chris



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Date: 30 Jun 2006 23:25:42 +0000
From: "Fergus Flanagan" <address truncated>
Subject: About the 9500

Currently I own a Qtek 9100 and have been looking at the 9500 from Nokia. I fondly remember the psion 3 and 5s along with their rock steady OS and very functional PIM apps. Has this been carried on to the 9500 or has the PIM functionality been diminished along the way. There are a few points I will raise about this device and if 9500 owners could provide feedback that would be great.



Is the zoom feature still available which was on the 5mxs left hand menu, does it work just as well?



Is the mouse key easy to use as I understand the touch screen is no more?



The text size in the messaging app and calendar cannot be zoomed out enough and so is much less flexible than the 5s, is this a pain. I like small fonts, thankfully my eye sight is still good?



Is the PC connection software reliable, does it work properly with Outlook 2003 and generally with Win XP?



What is the 9500 like to type on if no table is available, on the psions I remember you needed some kind of platform?



Does the screen make a buzzing noise and how readable in low light and direct sunlight is it?



Sorry for all the questions but I am contemplating on jumping ship as I recently saw a friend's 9300 and in direct sunlight it seemed very usable and made me think about the Symbian platform once again.



Many thanks



Fergus

Date: 2 Jul 2006 08:22:55 +0000
From: Clare Shepherd <address truncated>
Subject: Re:psions & botany.

>
>Of greater interest is the fact that Psions (3as) were taken by agroup of botanists to the high Himalayas as they were not only more ruggedthan anything else otherwise suitable they were resistant to the cold.When a Psion froze (literally) it just stopped. When it started againthere was no loss of data, the thing simply unfroze with all applicationsand documents as they were before!
Not so exotic but I also use my Psion 5mx in a hard case to recordbotany records around South Devon. I use a spreadsheet with earlierrecords year on year and to compare month by month and have a template inWord which I use to make a record each time we go out. I shall be using ittomorrow, Saturday in the meadows on the banks of the River Teign. I'veused it for years and al records are on a large CF card & copied to my PC.The Psion is robust  (I've dropped it a few times over the years) andseemingly weather proof. In all an excellent machine. I've tried bothPocket PCs & Palms but they all come up short.
My only quibble is that I'm moving from a PC to a Mac and there seemsto be no way to use the Psion to sync. I shall probably use a card readeras I don't want to run Windows on the Mac ( neither virtual or viaBootcamp software). If anyone has any ideas please say.
BTW I also use a Series 7.
Clare