-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tips for Posting to The Digest and how to unsubscribe
at the end of the digest
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Digest Wed, 01 Sep 2004 Volume 01 : Number 586
************************************************************************
Sent to: 752 subscribers
In today's digest 07 messages:
==========================
- Re: DOS better than Windows
- Revo -Open Case-
- Re: Palm support!!, "SymPOC"?
- Nokia 9500
- Crontab & Freenote, p800 and higher, What's in a name?,
- Winmail.dat?
- Re: Email Problem
*++++++++++&
Date: 29 Aug 2004 22:21:44 +0000
From: Rolf Brunsting
Subject: Re: DOS better than Windows
Dear Antony,
<< The best multitasking O/S was and still is Unix and its variants >>
Which expresses your personal preference rather than plain fact as the operating systems by DEC and IBM didn't have to bow to UNIX when it comes to multi-tasking and a number of the other features you mention. And what you forget is that UNIX and Windows served completely different sections of the computer world for a very long time. The feature of "mounting additional disks on the same volume instead of creating a new drive" is only of interest when you have a fairly big computer with multiple disks. Such a computer is overkill for the overall majority of home, home office and small office situations. And for such applications it's no problem having all business documents on drive C and the financial administration on drive D.
<< ... and development heading towards more platform independant technologies like Web based server sided scripting, java and .net(???), it is obvious that MS Windows advantages are quickly becoming fewer ...
>>
The same can be said about UNIX. When you have well defined and standardised exchange and interaction mechanisms it doesn't really matter which operating system you have on the server side or on the client side.
<< ... and when hardware developers afford more time towards Linux drivers rather than leave it to 3rd parties to develop their own, the primary global O/S will be Linux ... >>
The linux philosophy of create your own code and/or improve the code of others isn't always working to Linux's advantage. Hardware
manufacturers don't have to do anything as far as Linux is concerned. When Linux people get damned irritated about there being no driver for device 'X' they'll write one in their own time and at their own expense.
<< O/S performance will no longer be improved by hardware upgrades, but by ever efficient code and greater application selection and tuning, thanks to the open source concept >>
This is plain nonsense as there's always a limit to the amount of performance tuning you can do. There comes a point at which you're
using each and every clock cycle of of the processor extremely efficiently. You can then only get more processing power by moving to a more powerful processor. The same applies to data storage as the speed at which you can move data to and from a hard disk is finally
determined by the hard disk. Having a much faster operating system and applications is then the equivalent of a Ferrari that's stuck in a traffic jam.
<< History will show that MS-DOS was superceded by Windows 3.1 and Windows 20?? will be superceded by Linux Kernel ??? >>
Let's all hope that it doesn't go this way. Much has been written about the real and perceived monopoly position of Microsoft. The idea of
Linux and Open Source then looks appealing as you're not dealing with a single big corporation. But it doesn't make any difference to the vast majority of computer users. They don't have the talent, or have insufficient talent, to develop software. They have to rely on the software others produce for them - that software developers create the applications which meet their needs. Whether the software is supplied
by a company (Microsoft) or a collective (Linux / Open Source) doesn't really matter. When Linux takes over the position of Windows it means that a different group of developers now has the power to dictate. History has show that whenever a group has the power to dictate it will sooner or later make use of that power. Collective organisations have
no better track record than corporate organisations in this respect. Both are going to use the power they have for their own benefit. What Linux taking over the position of Windows will therefore mean to the software consumer is that they're now bitten by a big cat rather than
by a big dog.
---
Kind Regards,
Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands
*++++++++++&
Date: 30 Aug 2004 15:16:55 +0000
From: Manuel Campos Galvan
Subject: Revo -Open Case-
Fellow Psionistas:
My wife's Revo Plus has some type of plastic piece, inside where the batteries are held, that came loose. If you shake the Revo, you hear the bit of plastic bouncing around. Sometimes, the bit of plastic interferes with closing the Revo. Otherwise the machine is working perfectly. Before I ventured with my clumsy hands to open it, is there anything such as a guide to open Revo's? Any pieces of wisdom that could be passed along before potentially damaging the case or hinges?
Thank you and best regards,
Manuel
*++++++++++&
Date: 30 Aug 2004 20:53:35 +0000
From: ian chapple
Subject: Re: Palm support!!, "SymPOC"?
I'll reply to Rolf Brunsting's lengthy, and somewhat patronising (there's something new!) posting by summarising our experience as follows:
1. Prior to SUDS occurring, my wife synced her Palm with her iBook every 2 or 3 days, using Palm's "one-button-press" system. This obviously stopped working when SUDS struck.
2. We then spent over a month trying to solve the problem, during which my wife continued to use her Palm as normal; at no point in this time did Palm Technical Support suggest that SUDS might be the problem, despite my detailed explanation of what had happened. This obviously created a large amount of un-backed-up data.
3. My wife then found several reports describing what SUDS was, along with the solution, and that it could in fact affect the m515, despite Palm's own claims to the contrary; they claimed that changes to both the design of the Palm itself and improved buffering on the cradle made SUDS a thing of the past. There was one report from an administrator at a US hospital where about half of the three hundred m515s that they had bought had suffered from SUDS.
4. We bought a backup card and flattened the battery, which solved the problem. At this point, Palm did admit that the problem could occur, and that flattening the battery was the only solution. It was Palm themselves that had previously maintained that SUDS could not occur on the m515, not me.
5. I then requested that they reimburse the cost of the backup card, because buying this had been the only way to avoid data loss. Palm refused. When I spoke to the Dutch Consumentenbond, they agreed with me that Palm and/or the shop where I had bought the Palm were liable for the cost; by this time I has had enough of Palm, and in the end, the shop reimbursed about half the cost of the card.
6. As I said, my experience of Palm's Technical Support was not a good one, and my opinion of this has not changed. They strung us along for four or five weeks, without ever once offering a proper solution, only finally admitting what the problem was when we had already solved the problem. Whatever you say, that is poor service.
7. I am not as stupid as you seem to think I am, because I am perfectly aware of the insidious nature of electrostatic discharge problems; however, should such a problem occur, I do expect proper customer support when trying to find a solution.
Owen,
"SymPOC" sounds like a nasty disease.
Cheers, Ian.
*++++++++++&
Date: 30 Aug 2004 23:06:45 +0000
From: Walker, Jan
Subject: Nokia 9500
I have placed an order with what I hope is one of the few non-scam, non-criminal ebay companies promising to supply one actual phone for one price. Scheduled shipment is mid-September. If all goes well (I will humbly advise you if it doesn't) then as soon as I can gain some mastery over its functions, I will write in to the digest with a description. My interest in this unit is as a replacement for netBook, 5mx, and Revo Plus. Wish me luck, the price is dear ($1350 to get one early.)
JW in SanFranBayArea
*++++++++++&
Date: 31 Aug 2004 15:12:41 +0000
From: Itamar Engelsman
Subject: Crontab & Freenote, p800 and higher, What's in a name?,
Answer to: Chris S Handley
Re.: Crontab & Freenote - Thanks for the answer. I suppose the right command in a macro would be FgApp%:("D:\System\Apps\FreeNote\?????") but which file is the data file ? I suppose it wil be easier to just keep it closed as Philip advised me. However, it would be nice if one would have the possibillity to disable the version number popping up every time you open the program, it just adds to the waiting time before you can use it.
Answer to: Mike Dyer
Re.: p800 and higher - Qcalc says it will save in Excel-compatible formats but I don't know how well that works. It works via saving in .csv format and uses .QCL format to store formatting information. Anyone with more info ?
As to the price of th eP910, I think I'll be waiting a while longer as well at this price level.
Answer to: Owen H. Morgan
Re.: What's in a name? - Sorry, that from address mistake was mine, I had forgotten to update my email file. I think in the meantime we have settled just for "The Digest" but are always open if anyone has a great idea (we already asked before).
Best regards,
Itamar Engelsman
London, UK
*++++++++++&
Date: 31 Aug 2004 16:31:25 +0000
From: Owen H. Morgan
Subject: Winmail.dat?
Hi.
When I get e-mails from WindoZe users, there is often an attachment called Winmail.dat. Could someone please tell me what this is and more importantly, what settings should be altered on the WindoZe box to stop it sending this? I know it's nothing nasty, but as far as I can see, it's just a waste of space and bandwidth, particularly when I have to pay through the nose to get my e-mail through a GSM phone.
Owen
Thought for the day:
After a number of decimal places, nobody gives a damn.
--
Owen H. Morgan
Yacht "Naomi J.", LD-9311 / LA7QZ-MM
Ancho27°45.56'N 15°41.06'W
Arguineguin, Gran Canaria
Phone and SMS:
In Spain: +34 620520079
In Norway: +47 92053097
http://home.no.net/naomij
*++++++++++&
Date: 1 Sep 2004 09:26:07 +0000
From: Chris S Handley
Subject: Re: Email Problem
Owen Morgan wrote:
> You need to create a new empty Index file. Email should then
> rebuild the index. It may take a few seconds, particularly if
> you had many e-mails in the application. For some reason, I
> keep seeing people suggest that the new file should come from
> Agenda. This didn't work for me, and I have no idea why an
> Agenda file should work.
Doing this manually is somewhat fiddly and error prone, especially for non-technical users. I am supplying a program which performs exactly the same function, but a lot easier & safer. You must create a new Program file (Ctrl-N,etc) called RebuildEmailIndex, delete the PROC...ENDPROC stuff already there, paste the supplied program in, Translate it, and then either Run it directly or double-tap it's OPO file.
If you run the program again, it will offer to restore the backup of the old Index :-) .
---
Chris Handley
REM RebuildEmailIndex (31-Aug-2004)
REM Put in the Public Domain by Chris Handley.
INCLUDE "Const.oph"
CONST PROGRAM$ = "Rebuild Email Index"
DECLARE EXTERNAL
EXTERNAL DialogYesNo%:(title$, body1$, body2$)
EXTERNAL DialogOk:(title$, body1$, body2$)
EXTERNAL RightDrive$:(file$)
PROC main:
LOCAL Index$(255), Backup$(255)
Index$ = RightDrive$:(":\System\Mail\Index")
Backup$ = Index$+".bak"
IF DialogYesNo%:(PROGRAM$, "Have you closed Email?", "") = 0
DialogOk:(PROGRAM$, "Sorry, you need to close Email first.", "")
ELSEIF EXIST(Index$) = 0
DialogOk:(PROGRAM$, "ERROR: Email's Index file could not be found.", Index$)
ELSE
IF EXIST(Backup$)
IF DialogYesNo%:(PROGRAM$, "Found a backup of the Index file.", "Do you want to restore it?")
TRAP RENAME Index$, Index$+".old"
TRAP RENAME Backup$, Index$
TRAP RENAME Index$+".old", Backup$
DialogOk:(PROGRAM$, "Index file restored.", "You can open Email again.")
GOTO Finish::
ELSE
TRAP DELETE Backup$
ENDIF
ENDIF
TRAP RENAME Index$, Backup$
LOPEN Index$
LCLOSE
DialogOk:(PROGRAM$, "Emptied Email's index file.", "Now open Email to rebuild it's Index.")
ENDIF
Finish::
ENDP
REM Opens a Yes/No dialog
PROC DialogYesNo%:(title$, body1$, body2$)
dINIT title$
dTEXT "",body1$
IF body2$ <> ""
dTEXT "",body2$
ENDIF
dBUTTONS "No",-(%n OR KDButtonPlainKey% OR KDButtonNoLabel%), "Yes",(%y OR KDButtonPlainKey% OR KDButtonNoLabel%)
RETURN DIALOG
ENDP
REM Opens an OK dialog
PROC DialogOk:(title$, body1$, body2$)
dINIT title$
dTEXT "",body1$
IF body2$ <> ""
dTEXT "",body2$
ENDIF
dBUTTONS "OK",(KDButtonEnter% OR KDButtonPlainKey% OR KDButtonNoLabel%)
DIALOG
ENDP
REM Find which drive the file is on, and returns it
PROC RightDrive$:(file$)
LOCAL path$(255), drive%
rem Try all drives from Y to A
drive% = %Z
path$ = CHR$(drive%) + file$
DO
drive% = drive% - 1
POKEB (1+ADDR(path$)),(drive%)
UNTIL EXIST(path$) OR (drive% = %A)
rem Try drive Z if all other drives failed
IF NOT EXIST(path$)
POKEB (1+ADDR(path$)),(%Z)
ENDIF
rem Pretend file on drive C if all drives failed, so will generate helpful error message after return file
IF NOT EXIST(path$)
POKEB (1+ADDR(path$)),(%C)
ENDIF
RETURN path$
ENDP
*++++++++++&
To reply or to send your own messages,
subscribe by sending an email to
with SUBSCRIBE in the subject.