Palm, Ubuntu and Mobile Technology.

2009-05-03T15:47:00.003-04:00

eee pc 900 installation of Ubuntu 9.04 (Ubuntu Netbook Remix)

OK, I finally got around to install UNR 9.04 in My wife's eee pc 900. the experience was very similar to my eee pc 1000:

1. Follow this instructions from the ubuntu website:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/FromImgFiles

2. Install the eee-control-tray:

http://greg.geekmind.org/eee-control/

3. Install one kernel patch:

https://bugs.edge.launchpad.net/linux/+bug/349314/comments/74

The last step is just temporary until the general release kernel is patched. After that my 900 works like a charm.

Well, one word of advice, both the 900 and the 1000 have a problem with flash. Playing flash video is not a very good experience, it is OK except if you try to watch it full screen then it is kind of jerky, so far I haven't found a solution. Let me know if you have a solution ot the problem.

2009-04-25T21:15:00.003-04:00

Ubuntu 9.04

This week ubuntu 9.04 (jaunty jackalope) has been released and I can say with certainty that it is the best version of Ubuntu so far. This time, instead of upgrading my current installation I decided to go re-install from the beginning. Something that I like from Linux is that all your data is in your home directory, making easier to backup and restore. (Tip, if you care about configuration information saved in hidden folder, you will need to use the command prompt).

After backing up my Acer 5315-2153, I place the live cd in the cd-rom and there we went. The installation was a breeze, I went with an standard installation, except for 2 items: I use ext4 instead of the default ext3 (ext4 is faster) and use a different keyboard configuration. It worked without a flaw, all hardware was supported and ready to be used (including my bluetooth mouse!).

It was a great experience, so good that I decided to replace the Asus Xandros Linux in my eee pc 1000 for Ubuntu Netbook Remix.

The experience was just as great as with the full desktop except for the following:

1. UNR can't turnon or off the web cam or bluetooth, you have to do it by using the BIOS.
2. Not all hotkeys are supported.

After some digging I found this neat software that allows me to control the web cam and bluetooth (plus a couple of extra utilities, including the hotkeys):

http://greg.geekmind.org/eee-control/

I am planning to do the same on my wife's eee pc 900, I expect an easier ride since it is an older model but I'll post about it!

One quick note: the 1000 has 2 SSD, once speedy the other not so much, I partition both with ext4 and mounted "/" in the 8gb and "/home" in the 32gb. I left some 2gb in the 32gb for swap space, the rest for "/home".

Internet browsing in my centro part 2

2008-08-04T05:46:00.000-04:00

Ok, this week I want to talk about Mobile HTML Transcoders or compressors. These are websites that can take a normal website and transcode for mobile viewing, reducing image quality, change layout, etc. These are extremely useful when you want to see the content of a complicate web site or like I mention last week, if you are using an RSS reader, since you will be able to take the link for the article and using a compressor you will be able to see it in Blazer!. These are my top favorites:

Google

Google is just great at making a web site manageable for Blazer or Xiino, I still don't understand how it does it but in the case of heavy web sites (engadget or lifehacker) it cuts all the links and images not related to the article you want to read, leaving with only the content you were intented to see. The other content is available just a click away. Its only problem is when I try to read pages in spanish using Xiino, the character set that it uses doesn't display correctly in Xiino, I think this is more a problem in Xiino than in Google but it is a problem for me.

Skweezer

Skweezer is another great compressor, the main reason why I love it is because the spanish pages show correctly in Xiino.

As you can imagine I use Skweezer for spanish web pages and Google for everything else.

I hope this helpful in your quest to browse the internet from your centro.

Internet Browsing in my centro

2008-07-27T12:30:00.001-04:00

Let's be honest, the only mobile device that offers a great mobile internet experience is the iPhone and to a lesser degree the iPod touch. Safari is a great browser in all its incarnations (Mac, Windows and Mobile) raising the bar for all other devices.

Now I can see a small ray of hope for Windows Mobile (Opera Mobile) and for the next generation of smartphones using Linux in its different incarnations (Nova, Android, etc) but what can we do faithful users of a PalmOS (Garnet) device?

A lot I can say.

First, the time were we just "browse" is over, with our current information overload, it is more important than ever to get what we want/need to read without distracting information and to our rescue we have QuickNews. This incredible piece of sofware is a news reader or rss reader or feed reader, depending on the buzz word of the day, it basically allows you to get only the content that you need by subscribing to RSS Feeds, nowdays almost every website offers this neat tool. With Quicknews you will avoid jump from website to website to check the latest news, weather, industry specific articles, etc. All the information will be in your palm.

Now, an RSS Feed is basically the latest content of the website in text format and most web sites include the full article but some don't, for this you will need to actually go the web site, but what to do when the web site don't offer a mobile version? it can be really annoying to wait for pages whose content is so rich (images, video, etc) that takes forever to load even in the mobile fastest networks. Then what to do?

The solution is simply to use a compressor, compressors are web sites that "compress" the websites to be more useful in a mobile browser (Blazer, Xiino), QuickNews works well with 3: Google, MobileLeap and Skeezer.

OK, after this your browsing experience should be more pleasant but still not perfect, so here are some extra tips:

The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal detect when you are using Blazer and they redirect you to the mobile version of the web site. It works for everything except for the NYT blogs.

I am working in a utility which will give you more choice between compressors, the printer friendly version of a web page (for some websites) or the mobile web site directly. I will make it public next week.

2008-06-10T06:50:00.009-04:00

I love GTD, to me it is the one technique that click with me and that really has helped me. Now I will not make my blog about GTD but what I have found missing is a comprenhensive compilation of interview of David Allen, for this reason I am creating this post, I will maintenan it and re-post it from time to time, I'll create another one about video interview, this is exclusively for podcasts. I am including the link in text format for each podcast since I found that sometimes blazer doesn't pass the links to Kinoma, if that happens to you, just copy the link and past it in kinoma.

43 Folder productive talk. click here for the mp3.

http://odeo.com/show/3351643/1005364/download.mp3

Accidental Creative. click here for the mp3.

http://www.accidentalcreative.com/podcasts/ac-podcast-57-david-allen

Professionally Speaking. click here for the mp3.

http://www.exec-comms.com/blog/wp-content/audio/David_Allen.mp3

Donation Coder. click here for first part and here for the second part mp3.

http://podcast.donationcoder.com/shows/dcpodcast5p0.mp3

http://podcast.donationcoder.com/shows/dcpodcast5p5.mp3

Precision Change. click here for the mp3

http://precisionchange.com/podpress_trac/web/51/0/PC008_GTD_201_David_Allen.mp3

IMNO.ORG. Click here for the mp3

http://www.imno.org/audio_files/interview_David_Allen.mp3

Productivity Podcast. Click here for the mp3

http://www.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/productivity/tpn_productivity_20050614_003.mp3

The Duct Tape Marketing. Click here for the mp3

http://media.libsyn.com/media/ducttape/davidallen1.mp3

Palm Centro, Bluetooth and Ubuntu.

2008-05-27T14:17:00.001-04:00

OK, I received my new Centro and I just finished reviewing what applications to re-install and I make sure it doesn't reset any more, if you want to hear more about my review, you can check this post.

Now, I did all of this in Windows (it was just easier) and now I am trying to work again with Ubuntu, this time with a twist, I want to use bluetooth.

Now bluetooth is something that needs a little more work in Ubuntu, the basic functionality is there but making it work with my centro has not been easy, most people use the networking hotsync, I don't think it should be this difficult, it should be as easy as it is in Windows. My main roadblock right now is the virtual serial port, I am working on this based on some articles I found in the internet, I will update you when I figure it out how to sync my centro with Ubuntu via Bluetooth.

If you have any tips, please post it in the comments!.

My centro died

2008-05-17T10:47:00.001-04:00

I know I was supposed to post my impressions on how to sync my centro with Ubuntu but my centro decided to died while I was working on it, I received today so hopefully I can try again in a couple of days, I decided that I will sync mycentro with Ubuntu using bluetooth, so wish me luck!.

One note on the whole ordeal to get my centro to work again, I couldn't and I decided first to call sprint, sprint told me that my phone was dead, then I contact Palm and after a couple of minutes it was decided my phone was dead, I paid for advance exchange (25usd ) to make the process quick and I got it today! 5 days total, not bad and I need to say that even without all the bad rep from sprint and palm support, everyone was very nice and helpful, I hope this is a trend with this 2 companies.

Palm and Ubuntu

2008-05-10T12:30:00.001-04:00

I've been using Ubuntu as my main desktop (at home) for the last 6 months and I need to say, I love it!, here are the reasons why I love it:

Easy to install (well almost easy to install).

For the most part the installation process is very straightforward, just get a CD, put it in your laptop/desktop cdrom drive, select install and click next until it is done! Now, there are occasions where your hardware may not be supported out of the box, if this happens, you have 2 options:

Walk away.

Try to fix the problem, don't even try this option if you don't consider yourself an advanced computer user.

If you just want to see if Ubuntu will work on your computer, try the live CD, if everything works, then go for it, if it doesn't, I'll recommend you to wait.

Tons of applications.

There are a lot of open source applications for Ubuntu, which are easy to install by using the Add/Remove application, just run the application, select what you want to install and you are ready to go!

Bring back to life old computers and low cost computers

I installed Ubuntu in an Acer 5315-2153 which is a very low spec laptop (vista crawled on it) but with Ubuntu is a snappy laptop with a lot of computer power. The only warning is that the wifi and sound are not supported out of the box and it took me at least 4 hours to make them work.

In my next post I'll write my experience connecting my Palm Centro with my Ubuntu Laptop.

Do you want to take your media with you? but it is too much? don't worry I have a solution

2008-05-04T09:11:00.001-04:00

Actually I have 2 solutions for you:

ORB

Winamp Mobile.

Both solutions are easy to use and install, they required little work but they require a Windows computer which for 90% of the people out there should be ok, I am looking for similar solutions for Linux or Mac.

This solution is not exclusive for Palm OS, it works with pretty much any device that can stream media.

I used Winamp Mobile and it was the easiest to use, good luck and give me your opinions on the comments!

Bluetooth audio

2008-03-28T22:44:00.001-04:00

How many times have you been in the situation that the earphones cable gets in the way? in the gym, while you are working or while laying in the bed? well I have the perfect solution for you, simply buy a bluetooth headset and audio gateway and connect your treo or palm TX, it is a very easy solution although a little pricey but totally worth it! check the links below:

Motorla HT820

Audio Gateway

2007-09-08T15:35:00.000-04:00

My Palm as a Doggie Sitter

Lately my dog cujo has been misbehaving and tearing off his diaper when we are out, ending with his face full of white stuff and a mess in the room where he stays. So what to do? We've learn that the best way to change his behavior is to correct him right after he mis-behaves but usually he does it when we are not around, so what do to?, here comes Windows Media Encoder, My laptop, a WebCam and my handy TX to the rescue.

Step 1.

Setup your laptop and the webcam in such a way that you can see what your dog is doing.

Step 2.

Setup Windows Media Encoder to stream your webcam, you find a nice guide here.

Step 3.

Use Kinoma media player to watch the stream.

Now what we do is that while we are at the house we watch him in his area and every time he starts tearing his diaper we correct him immediately, hopefully a couple of times and Cujo will get the message :)

2007-08-11T12:39:00.000-04:00

Kinoma Player.

Ok, so if coreplayer is such a great program why do I have a second player?, reason number one because I am a palm OS program junkie, I love play with programs and see if I can use them. The second is convenience, Kinoma can play internet streams (coreplayer too) and supports flash (which coreplayer can't) that gives me access to more content plus neither program has a good bookmarking system so if I am listening to podcast and then I want to switch to watch a movie, I just switch programs and there you go, exactly were I was. I really wish both programs support bookmarking a la PocketTunes (although PocketTunes is not perfect but at least is better). Want to know more about Kinoma player? visit: http://www.kinoma.com/

I am starting to work on a in-dept review of both programs and a comparison so you can check the strengths and weakness and make an informed decision if you want to buy either program.

2007-08-02T19:39:00.000-04:00

Coreplayer.

Coreplayer is a very versatile media player, it can play most AVI, MP4, WMA, MP3 files out there and then some, so it is perfect for viewing your media in your palm. It is a direct descendant of TCPMP a freeware player. Version 1.0 was not so good but the current version (1.1) is good enough, I use it mainly for video playing of the content I record with my OSD in MP4 format, it plays without a problem. The software has many capabilities but again, it is a jack of all trades but not so good at them except for the video playing. You should check it if you planning in watching video in your palm.

2007-07-22T10:01:00.000-04:00

OSD.

Ok, so what's good of having a very good media player without content? and legal content for that matter.

Here come our rights to record non-digital content (at least for now) a DVR and the OSD

So what's the OSD, it is a device that allows you record directly into a SD or Compact Flash card or a USB drive in two different formats MP4 or ASF, this is create because both formats are supported by the PalmOS players, finally I can see TV anywhere I am, not only TV Shows, but documentaries, movies, etc. And thanks to the DVR I don't miss any show. I chose the OSD because I believe it is the most dynamic device, now it is not for the non-geek, although out of the box works for the most part but you will need some technical skills to get the most of it.

The OSD is not the only game in town, Neuros makes a couple more recorders, here is a list:

Neuros MPEG-4 Recorder 2

Neuros MPEG-4 Recorder 2

Now if you don't want a Neuros or are not convinced, here are a couple more options:

SanDisk SDMV1-R V-Mate

Audiovox PVR1000 Portable Personal Video Recorder with LCD

2007-07-14T08:25:00.000-04:00

Video on the palm.

One of the best uses for my palm is the ability to watch video, there are many occasions that I had to wait for my car to be fixed or in a doctor's office, but thanks to my palm I actually had a good time. In coming posts I will review each of the software that I use, but in the meantime, let me give the list:

1.OSD
2.Coreplayer
3.Kinoma player

I'll talk about the strength of each software and why I use 2.

Until next week!

2005-02-12T23:32:00.000-05:00

Podcasting in your palm

Finally after some time I got to do a new entry in my blog, I am starting a new one too, this one about my points of view as an immigrant living in the USA and about some other things, althoug more than a blog will be a podcast, which is why I wanted to give you my impressions about podcast and how I have it implemented in my Palm.

First What is a podcast? in my layman terms is the ability to get audio content (almost in any topic) and in an easy way transfer to a mp3 player. Now, let me tell you it is really easy to start listenning to a podcast if you have the correct setup and software, here is the software I use.

1. iPodder
2. PocketTunes
3. Windows Media

Just download ipodder and install it. Check the directory or podcastAlley to check for podcast that might interested you, I recomend The Daily Source Code , ITConversations and OnTheMedia, of course there is a ton of them, just look for the one you like.

After you select your feeds, just click on get new podcast and you are ready .. almost.

Second part is to transfer your files to your PalmOS handheld, there is tons of way to do this, but I will describe two, I use the second.

1. Get a card ready, plug your card and copy your mp3 from your computer to your card.
2. Open PocketTunes in your PalmOS handheld, conect it to your PC, in your PC open Windows Media and go to Syncronize, check your playlist and once you selected the one you want sync, just click in the Sync button.

Now I know using Windows Media looks more complicate but it is really not, plus it is a lot easier to keep track of what you have transfer to your PalmOS handheld.

Ok, I hope you get interested in podcasting,really it is totally worth it.

2004-10-21T17:14:00.000-04:00

Pocket Tunes
I know it's being a while since I wrote something, but let me tell you, it's been a busy summer, mainly since one of my projects went live and we bought a new house, it's been a lot of work, in consequence my blogs are kind of alone, but hopefully I can start to do something about it. First I am starting a series of posts reviewing every piece of software in my palm, I will start with one of my favorite software title: Pocket Tunes.

Now, once you move to a PalmOS 5 handheld you move to a new dimension, not only it is a better operating system but it takes you to think in new ways to use your handheld, one of these uses is for multimedia, yes for the first time, any PalmOS 5 has enough power to play music and videos, yes you heard it, you can be productive AND have fun with your palm. One of the first products that I discover was PocketTunes an mp3 player for the PalmOS, now, PocketTunes is not the only mp3 player, there is AeroPlayer and RealOne player too, but PocketTunes is the only one that allows you to listen to Ogg Vorbis files AND Windows Media files (not encrypted). This expands your universe incredible since Windows media files are smaller, meaning that now you can put more files in your 256 mb SD card.

Now I am not a big music fan, I'd like listenning to tunes in my palm but I am not great at describing features like the equalizer and whatnot, I basically use the following features of PocketTunes:

1. MP3 and WindowsMedia playing.
2. Crossfading which I think means that there is no silent moment between songs.
3. Internet streaming, you read correctly, PocketTunes allows you to listen to streams using WinAmp technology, which is awesome, right now I am in starbucks listenning to virgin radio using my T608 and my T3, isn't that incredible?

Now, don't think pocket tunes is restricted to these features, it has tons of features, you can check at: http://www.pocket-tunes.com I highly recomend this software.

Gabriel

2004-05-23T09:46:00.000-04:00

Backup strategy
A recent post in palmAddicts.com inspire me to write my backup strategy which I'm sure some will find a little extreme but it works for me:

1. I Hotsync at least 2 times a day.

2. I use Backbuddy for Windows from BlueNomad, awesome backup software! it really makes a complete backup.

3. I use Backupbuddy not only to make a backup of the main RAM but also I make a backup of my SD card.

4. I use cardbackup in my T3 and I schedule a daily backup to my sd card at midnight, plus I keep each day backup individually so if I need to recover a file from 2 days ago I can do it.

I hope that this can help you to always recover from disaster.

Gabriel Castellanos.

2004-05-10T19:32:00.000-04:00

IM clients review: Verichat
Yesterday I saw re-publish in PA (without my intervention) my first IM review, I saw that as a sign that I should finish what I started, here is part 3:

Verichat

Finally we get to the current king in IM clients for PalmOS: Verichat. PDAApps maker of Verichat uses a propietary protocol and its own servers as gateways to other IM services, while very reliable (I never had a problem connecting to the service) it opens several uncomfortable options: the company can start charging a subscription fee plus the cost of the software, if the company goes under then the software will stop working. Now this is just speculation, I mention this because it a possibility.

Now, let's check what it supports:

- MSN, Yahoo, AOL IM and ICQ.
- Full support for emoticons (not animated though)
- Background support, it keeps connected while your are working in other apps.
- Keeps online presence even "offline", by sending your messages to your cellphone.
- Support for multiple conversations.
- Really, really pretty.

Now the problems:
- Verichat allows your handheld to turn off not like chatapus that just turn off the screen, probably because it keep you "online" forwarding all your messages to your cell phone.
- It does not notify you if you receive and email in your hotmail or yahoo account.

In my next post I will give my personal selection and why.

Gabriel Castellanos

2004-05-03T21:24:00.000-04:00

How I use my palm at work
I use it in so many ways:

- Taking notes: each meeting I go I use my wireless keyboard to take notes in slap, after the meeting I use slap to tranfer my notes to Task, Calendar or Memo+. Plus at the end of the meeting I take a picture of the whiteboard so I don't forget to write anything.

- Archive notes: All my notes and project contacts go into and special database in Handbase.

- Managing project: I apply the GTD methodology using Shadow to keep track of all tasks and status, Task where the tasks I am working are and DoctToGo where I keep reference material and an Excel spreadsheet where I keep a status report.

- Email: I sync my "action" email with VersaMail so any free time I can read and reply my emails.

- Check email and calendar on the go: My office depends heavely in exchange and outlook and it is important for me to be able to check my email and calendar, thanks to my T3 and my T608 I can access the wireless web client and check my information.

Gabriel Castellanos

2004-04-28T17:57:00.000-04:00

Intant Messaging: Webmessenger
Webmessenger offer similar features to Chatapus, but in this case it uses a propietary protocol and the company owns the servers that work as a gateway to the other messaging protocols (MSN, Yahoo, AIM, Jabber, ICQ). Here is the list of features:

- Access to all main IM protocols, with send and receive functionality.
- Allows you to add contacts
- Features a "suspend" function that allows the users to be in an "away" status when quiting the application and when loggin again it display all pending messages.
- Seems more reliable than Chatapus, only one time I was unable to login.

What it does not offers:

- No emoticons.
- It does not imports your buddy list, it adds buddies as they send you messages. If you want your buddy list you need the desktop component.
- It does not show if a contact is online or not. Now the developer claims that it works, I was unable to verify it.
- Really expensive (29.95)
- Not pretty.

Next review: Verichat

Gabriel Castellanos

2004-04-24T19:34:00.000-04:00

Instant Messaging: Chatopus

After several months of trying internet programs I am pretty happy with my selections for Web Browser, email client and weblog client, now my only selection left is an IM client, I use MSN, Yahoo and AIM so I need a client that supports all three, based on this there are only three posibilities:

Verichat
Chatopus
Webmessenger

I will be reviewing each of them, this is the first of three reviews.

Chatopus

Chatopus is actually a Jabber IM client, Jabber is an open source protocol so everybody can connect to a jabber server and use and install jabber software, this open a ton of posibilities but also it has some drawbacks, mainly that there are not many reliable jabber servers out there, and without a server you cannot connect. One advantage is that the jabber protocol supports gateways to others IM networks, in this case, MSN, Yahoo and AIM.

Configuration is a little cumbersome, mainly since you can not create a Jabber account from the client nor configure the gateways. this means that you need to select a client and then make all the configuration in your PC. Check Jabber for more information.

Now the Chatopus interface is quite simple, basically allows you:

- Send/Receive IM messages.
- Check the status of your friends
- Add/Remove buddies
- It supports the T3 screen.
- Multitasking, basically you can leave the program to use another application but you will still receive your messages, this is very handy when you are working in several applications. You get message notifications in the form of silent alarms, in the case of the T3 the LED light blinks and the alert icon in the toolbar blinks too, sound alerts are in developing.

Now, the bad, it is not a beutiful app, icons are kind of simple and it does not supports emoticons, it does not support screen names either, this basically means that in the case of msn messenger you will see an email address not your buddy's name, same with Yahoo messenger.

Now the biggest plus, price, it is 14.95 at Palmgear, by far the cheapest of all the IM applications I am reviewing.

Next review: Webmessenger.

Gabriel

2004-04-23T23:12:00.000-04:00

SLAP

I spent about half my days in meetings, which makes really important to be able to take good notes and then transfer them to the correct application (memo, calendar, task, email, etc). Always a difficult task until I found slap, wonderful piece of software, basically takes a loosely format text and convert it into an item in the selected application, so I can write something like "Tomorrow 11am Appt in NYC with Joe" select the text and press the calendar button and this will create an entry in my calendar, this allows me to concentrate in taking notes without having to jump to different applications.

2004-04-11T11:13:00.000-04:00

Travel

I am so happy for having my T3, one of the best uses of it is when I am traveling, I can download webpages with useful information using plucker, I summarize information and create a Word doc which I transfer to my palm, I use the Zagat guide to know where to eat, I use Metro to travel throuhg the city like a native and if I need extra information I get to the internet using my T608 and bluetooth. I can tell you, the best tourist guide ever is my T3

2004-03-31T21:05:00.000-05:00

Email
Email has been become an indespensable communication tool for me, not only keep me in contact with my family and friends but also help me with my job. Which brings me to my T3, it allows me to collect not only my email from my POP accounts but thanks to VersaMail I can get my outlook email too!.

It is very convenient to be able to write an email with the meeting minute during the meeting itself! It is convenient too to sync my email and take it with me every where or by using my T608 I can sync it wirelessly!

Conclusion: a palmOSdevice is an excellent device for email.

Gabriel Castellanos.

2004-03-27T18:49:00.000-05:00

Dictionaries

Something great about the PalmOS handhelds is that they are excellent reference tools, I live in the USA but english is not my first language, so when I am writing or I am in a conversation I need to translate words but this is really easy, since I have two english-spanish dictionaries and the PalmPak Dictionary Thesaurus card, these three utilities are really useful. Complementing the package I have 2 books about english grammar, which after reading them I can say that my writting skills have improve a lot or at least that's what I hope :)

Gabriel Castellanos

2004-03-25T19:24:00.000-05:00

Digital Dashboard
One of the best features of my palm is the ability to keep all my information in one place, I manage differents projects so it is important to keep always with me all the important information that allows me to take decisions on the spot, for these I use the following software:

1. ShadowPlan: Essential to keep all projects and task information in one place
2. MyWeek: Allows me to keep track of meetings and deadlines
3. Built-in To-do: Always show me what to do next (link with Shadow).
4. Slap: Where I take my meetings notes.
5. Handbase: Where I save all my projects notes and contacts.
6. DocsToGo: I keep one spreadsheet that gives me a status summary.

As you can see I cannot live without my palm

Gabriel Castellanos.

2004-03-24T21:17:00.000-05:00

Divorce
Such an ugly word I must say but since I got my first PalmOS handheld I hear it frequently from my wife, the main complaint is because every 5 seconds or so I pull out my T3 because I have something to input or check, now I do it even without thinking so one day my wife decided to count how many times within and hour I will use my palm, 10 times!!

So fellas are you having marital problems because of your palm?

Gabrie Castellanos

2004-03-23T17:57:00.000-05:00

Compulsion.
I have a little compulsion, I love to try and use new programs for my T3, I just love it, but it is getting a little out of hand, I was checking all the programs that I have bought in the last year and I spent over 200usd just in software!!!, enough money to buy a TE to replace my wife's Clie (an older T model). On the bright side this makes me realize how useful is my T3 for me, even though sometimes I have duplicate programs (docs to go, quickoffice, mobileDB, HandBase and SmartListToGo for example), but I really use it for a lot of things, not only fun things but to keep my productivity and my quality of life up!. do you have a compulsion too?

Gabriel Castellanos

2004-03-21T06:12:00.000-05:00

Browsers
I am amazed everyday that I use my T3, it is just amazing what it can do. Today my wife is using our desktop computer and I am running a maintenance program in my Laptop, which basically leave only with my T3, not a problem, I am writing this using mo:Blog in my T3, since I am doing some research I am using my T3 to browse different websites to gather information, I use two browsers, Blazer (I have this since my m505 days) and Webpro, usually when I need speed and I am just reading I use Blazer, if I need details and interact with the website I use Webpro. I so wish PalmOne upgraded the Blazer browser to use the T3 screen but I believe that they will move on and use Webpro only, probably we should do a petition to ask them to upgrade it? how many of you out there use Blazer? any other browser out there I should be looking at?.

Gabriel Castellanos

2004-03-19T13:36:00.000-05:00

More on Bluetooth
I've been reading that the main use of bluetooth for many people is to access the internet, either using a mobile phone or by using an adapter attached to their computers. Even myself I use it that way but it is not the only use of bluetooth, I use it to for syncronizing, no cables!! I use it also for to send files back and forth with my PC, to keep it in sync with my mobile phone since I am a Windows user and I don't have iSync, so I send the information that I need from my T3 to my T608, I use it also to dial my T608 since I don't want all my numbers in it, just the one that I need the most, so sometimes the phone is in my T3 so I just dial it using bluetooth. I also use bluetooth to send some information from my outlook at work to my T3 since I don't want to carry around with all of my work information, I just select the appt I need to transfer to my T3, go to File and then select "Send to Bluetooth". It works for notes and calendar events, this is really handy for me.

There are many other uses for Bluetooth and hopefully more companies will bring to the american market more accesories that we can use. I know that several companies are working in digital cameras (imagine to take a pictures send it to your palm and then send it through email!), keyboards, etc. so be patiente and if you have a bluetooth enable PDA, use it to the maximum!

Gabriel Castellanos

2004-03-16T20:56:00.000-05:00

Travel with my T3, Part III

The final accesory I am reviewing is the veo photo traveler digital camera, is an excellent complement to the T3 if you keep your expectations real, how much real you would ask, let's start by saying that in no way this accesory will replace your 5 megapixel digicam, but it is a good "always on" camera for those "I wish I had a camera" moments.

I use the veo photo traveler quite often mostly at work, how? I take pictures of the white board during my meetings, there is no easier way to take notes!, sometimes I have to take more than one mainly when the whiteboard is crowded with information and since the Veo is a very low resolution I'd loose details if I don't divide the whiteboard in sections.

Another use for the Veo Photo Traveler is to share experiences, my family lives in another country and this camera has brought us closer together, since I can share more of what I see around here. One good example is my recent travel to LA, where I was able to take pictures of the improvements in my sister's in law house so I could share them with my wife as well as pictures of my nephews, hardly a "magic" moment but something that I wanted to share :).

Conclusion, I believe that this camera is a good investment as long as your expectations are real. I enjoy this little accesory a lot, it's a shame that veo cancel its 1.3 megapixel camera, hopefully the reason behing is because they are working in a 2 megapixel camera ;)

Gabriel Castellanos

2004-03-14T22:08:00.000-05:00

Traveling with my T3 part 2

The next accesory I want to review is the proporta 9v emergency charger.

As you can imagine when flying for more than 2 hours there is a huge posibility than my T3 runs out of juice, even faster if I try to browse the internet using bluetooth while you are waiting for your next flight, since I wanted to take advantage of my time I decided that I need it to take with me the proporta charger, which basically uses a 9v battery to charge your palm, the concept is simple and worked as advertise, you just need to be aware of the following:
- One battery will charge your palm between 30-40%. In my case (T3) it was 30%.
- It takes almost 2 hours to charge your PalmOS handheld.
- It does not show when the 9v battery is out of juice, the only way I figure was by taking the tempeture of the 9v battery, if it was hot, it still had juice.

Even with its shortcommings I believe is worth every cent if you fly frequently or you are going to be in a place withouth access to an electric plug.

Gabriel Castellanos

2004-03-14T17:17:00.000-05:00

Mobile blogging
I've been testing two PalmOS blogging programs, Vagablog and mo:Blog (I tried to test other programs but one kept crashing my T3, other wasn't able to post wirelessly and other didn't work with Blogger my blog provider). I am impressed with both programs, since I can create posts and published them using my T608 or my home internet connection through bluetooth. Hopefully they will help me to keep my blog up to date :).

First let's talk about what features both programs have:

1. Update blogs wirelessly.
2. Help with supported HTML tags through menus (basic but helpful).
3. Support for blogger, MoveableType.

Both programs do this really well, so if this is just basic need, then any program will do, now let's focus into the differences:

mo:blog

1. Support for MetaWeblog
2. Multiple blogs support, so you don't have to change your setting everytime you want to publish in another blog.
3. Multiple post publishing, which allows you to create multiple post and then publishing them, this is handy when you are keeping several blogs and you want to update them once a day or you don't have connection all the time.

Vagablog.
1. Supports WordPress, B2, LiveJournal, JournalSpace and wordpad.

My only inconvenience with mo:blog is that if you switch applications without saving, you lose your work, this is quite annoying but more of a training issue.

One big advantage of VagaBlog is the price, 7usd, mo:blog cost 14usd, so you can choose based on your needs and money. but whichever you choose you will be happy.

Gabriel Castellanos

2004-03-14T12:40:00.000-05:00

Travel 2
The first accesorie I want to review is the PalmOne wireless keyboard.
I already own a Palm keyboard but I wanted one that allow me to use it accross PalmOS powered handhelds and it looks that this is the perfect keyboard for this.
I am late to finish my second expert guide this one about PalmOS development (you can check my first one about time tracking here) so I decided that 6 to 7 hours of flight would be excellent to catch up. Setting up is easy, just install the driver in your PalmOS powered handheld and you are ready to go, by the way the driver supports the connected keyboard too, so you can use both keyboards, which is my case. This keyboard uses the same key layout as the compact keyboard, package size is pretty much the same size as the folding keyboard although is thinner and lighter, I am not particularly fond of the layout, since I can touch type but it makes a decent experience, the keyboard is incredibly responsive. One of my complains with the folding keyboard was the power drain since it takes its power from the PalmOS handheld, which in the case of my T3 could diminish the life of my battery a lot, the good news about this keyboard is that it has its own powersource (two batteries) although it uses the IR in my palm but it seems that the battery last longer. Still battery life does not goes all the way through my trip but with the proporta accesorie I was able to make it with little down time but you will have to wait for that review a little longer.
My conclusion? It is a decent keyboard, you can feel cramp if you touch type but you get used to keyboard, quality and responsiveness are good, you can take advantage of the portrait and lanscape mode of the T3, it works in almost all PalmOS handhelds (I tried it in a CLIE ), only problem is that you cannot use it in your lap as with the compact keyboard but for 69usd plus taxes I think is a pretty good deal.

2004-03-13T22:13:00.000-05:00

Travel 1
I traveled to LA last week, usually I would take my laptop, digital camera, cell phone and T3 with me, but this time I decided to take only my T3 with the following accessories:

-Wireless keyboard.

-Proporta 9V emergency charger

-Veo travel camera

-SprintPCS T608

It was a pretty good trip I loved traveling with my palm and l was able to survive for 2 days without computer, in my next blogs I will describe my experience with these accesories.

2004-03-13T12:05:00.000-05:00

first post using mo:blog
I am planning to keep my blog using, of course my new palm, a Tungsten T3 and mo:blog (or similar software), this is my first post with this configuration

2004-03-13T12:04:00.000-05:00

I am planning to keep my blog using, of course my new palm, a Tungsten T3 and Vagablog (or similar software), this is my first post with this configuration

2004-03-13T11:43:00.000-05:00

Again I've been busy, but I am testing some new tools that will help me to keep this blog updated more frequently so stay tune!

2003-11-19T15:57:00.000-05:00

First an apology for being late on my blog but it is being busy at work, I will try to post every Monday...

PalmOS Fun.

I have explained how I manage work in my PalmOS powered hanheld now it is time to see how I manage the fun.

Books.
I consider reading a pleasure, even though some people believe it is a turture. I love reading for fun in which case I love sci-fi or spy novels and I like to learn in which case I read self-improvement books and reference books. After a while of owning my palm powered handheld I started thinking it would be awesome if I was able to read in it, then I discover peanut books a company that created a book reader for the PalmOS and brought content from the publishers to the users of handhelds, I am in love, since then peanut books was bought by Palm Inc, then by palmgear, but still is the same level of quality so far. Another websites where you can find ebooks are: fictionwise.com and memoware.com.

Web.
Now there are two ways of browse internet content, off line or on-line. I prefer the off-line since it is the more simple of both options (and the least expensive). The way I do on-line browsing is by using a cable to connect my Palm powered handheld to my cell phone, it is nice but very slow so it is only for emergencies. I prefer the off-line option since it is my computer the one that gets the contect using my broadband connection, it takes around 5 minutes to create all the content that I read in day plus my emails, a big difference against the 10 minutes it takes to download the pags using my data cable!. There are a lot of software to do this task in the palm, but I think the best is Plucker , it is simple to use (if you use the desktop) and the viewer is simple to use but powerful.

Games.
Believe it or not I am not a big gamer, I do have some games but I use them rarely but I you can check the HUGE amount of games for the PalmOS in PalmGear

Gabriel Castellanos

2003-10-09T12:47:00.000-04:00

Mobile entertainment.

This column is not only about PDAs although it looks like, it is about other stuff that I found interesting and I found that my cell phone could be an incredible source or entertainment.

I just upgrade my wife's phone from a LG5350 to a Samsung VGA1000 (A620), this affect my view of cell phones a lot, first I got my wife's old cell phone which provide me for the first time with an opportunity to really explore Sprintpcs Vision service, at first I wasn't that impressed, yes I can check my emails since Yahoo and MSN allows you to do this and yes you can download content like ringers and screensavers but I found the ringers and screensavers expensive since there are lease not bought and I can find a ton for free in the internet. I though about using the LG5350 as a modem for my Palm but Sprint explicitly prohibits this and since I have an awesome plan I don't want to jeopardize loosing it. So much for the "advance" SprintPCS network I said, but then I discovered two services that I love and I can see a future for the carriers that offer these services.

First I found RealOne, yes you read correctly, an streaming service for a cell phone, I though I won't like it and at first I found it expensive ($5 per month) but now I can't live without it, since RealOne is focusing this service on news I found incredible convenient to get my news from my cell phone, it doesn't matter where I am, I can get updates of the NFL scores, news, etc. Last weekend I was at the movies and I wanted to check the scores, not a problem, I just open the RealOne application, select the sports update and bingo knew what was going on. I can imagine that soon we will have those videophones that were promised to us long time ago. Now audio quality is so-so but doesn’t matter because the idea is to get your news, not to listen to music, I hope that future upgrades to SprintPCS network will allow music streaming, I'd love to use my Rhapsody service from my phone.

The second service I found worth it was SprintPCS pictures, which allows my wife to send me pictures to my email account from her cell phone (VGA1000) which is camera enable. This is so much fun plus convenient, she wants to ask my opinion in something she wants to buy, she sends me a pictures, a process that takes no more that 1 minute, plus when she is visiting family in the west coast she sends me pictures so in a way I share her vacation and help me not to miss her too much.

I know that there are multiple privacy problems with the camera phones, but let me tell you it is worth it. If you like gadgets and you can afford it, buy a camera phone you will not regret it.

Gabriel Castellanos

PS: My guide has been just published in PalmSource website, you can check it at: TimeTracking Guide

2003-09-29T08:51:00.000-04:00

Task Management basics.
This week column is about how I implemented GTD using my Palm. But before that allow me to give you a brief introduction to GTD.

GTD

Getting things done is a way to be more efficient by trying to get us "in the zone", that zone describe by highly successful sportsmen and businessmen, basically "the zone" is that moment when we are so into our work that we just ignore the outer world and give our best. How to get there? I would recommend reading the book [Getting Things Done] to get a more detail explanation. For the purpose of this column we should say that there are 3 important steps to follow GTD.
- Keep track of ALL your projects and tasks; this includes work, house, etc.
- Select the "next action" for each project and classify it according to its context (house, office, phone, computer, etc).
- Prioritize what are you going to do based on the flow described in the book (I don't want to be sue for showing copyright material).

Now implementing this in a Palm Powered Handheld is not that easy, there are tons of tools to do this, but as I said last week, I selected the following tools:

- Built-in to-do
- Shadow

Shadow is an outliner that allows me in a very easy way to organize my projects and task, plus it can link individual items to items in the built-in to-do, calendar and address book. I link all my next action tasks to the built-in to-do, where I have them classify by context (@home, @office, @computer, etc) using the categories. Every week I review my list in Shadow prioritizing my task and adding any item to my to-do. When I am working I just look at my context and start working in my to-do, very simple yet very powerful.

I hope this information is helpful in your own quest to be more efficient using your Palm powered handheld.

Gabriel Castellanos.

2003-09-23T06:42:00.000-04:00

Task Management basics.

I have talked about two importan uses for my Palm powered handheld, Keeping track of my calendar and writing notes, not it is time to speak about task management.

Strategy.

As any other use, this goes down to decide a strategy to organize your projects and tasks, I am very project oriented since that's the way I earn my living (I am a computer consultant) and after trying multiples approaches I selected "Getting Things Done" since this is closer to my personality. You should select yours first before looking for tools, there are a several strategies but I believe that the two most popular approaches are GTD and Franklin Covey (7 habits of highly efficient people). Both of them are supported by different tools, I guess it is just a matter of personal taste. Once you select your strategy the next step is to select your tools, here is a sample of tools you can use:

- Built-in To-Do
- Shadow
- Progect
- ThoughManager
- Bonsai
- Arranger

I selected Shadow and the built in to-do since I believe these tools provide me with the best combination between simplicity and features. How do I use them? that's the topic of my next column.

Gabriel

2003-09-15T15:18:00.000-04:00

I know I haven't been able to update my blog as often as I wish (weekly) but I am getting better and hopefully soon I will keep it updated.

Writing notes.

As I mention in my last blog, my Palm powered handheld is a powerful tool to take notes, in provide me with an easy way to keep track of notes, no more post it, no more notebook that doesn't allow me to easily find my information... unless I have a lot of it!!!!

Now this is not an easy problem to solve, plus there is many ways to solve, so I took two approaches to fit my needs, hopefully one will fit your needs or at least allow you to find one.

First I decided to use a keyword system, how? simple: every Palm powered handheld has a very powerful search feature that allows to find anything that contains the text you are looking for. It is supported for most applications including you guess, memo pad and crypto pad. In order to have a simple way to find information in my memos I add in the second line of each memo a couple of keywords so it is easy to me to remember, this complements the categories, but this approach has two problems, first I need to keep track of my keywords so I know what can I look for, second I need an easy system to remember and to create my keywords. Not easy? you bet, my current keyword file (in Crypto Pad) has almost 50 keywords, which doesn't make it that easy to find something.

And here comes the second part of my solution, a database, yes there are database for a Palm powered handheld, there are two main competitors, although there is a lot of options out there, let me give you some names:

HandBase
Smartlist to Go (formely thinkDB)
pilotDB
MobilDB
etc.(For more information you can visit: http://applications.palmsource.com/Software/Solutions.asp?PCID=26&PSCID=79)

Now all of these programs will work, it is just a matter of taste, I personally like HandBase, which I own the complete suite, and SmartList to Go which I only have the handheld version, why two? There are a lot of applets for both of them and many times there is no equivalent between databases, so it is just safer to have both.

Now what do I do with a database? I am using an applet that exist for HandBase to keep track of projects, it is very handy, it can keep track of tasks, contacts and NOTES and here is the important part, notes, it is very easy to classify and to search in HandBase and with these applet is even easier. I use this approach mainly for my work notes, since I can easily classify them by project.

Probably this approach is not perfect, but so far it works, if you have a better one I'd like to hear about it.

Gabriel

2003-08-18T20:58:00.000-04:00

I am happy to announce that I was accepted to be software champion for the new expert guides in palmsource, you can check it at:

http://www.palmsource.com/applications/

This doesn't mean that I work for PalmSource it just means that I will help them create a page with focus on time tracking. I will try to do my best and as always if you want to give me your input for this blog or for the new expert guide you can always drop me a line.

Now let's go back to topic of this column and I will finally continue writing about the use of my PDA. In my last blog I wrote about the calendar, now let's speak about my memo application.

Writing notes

One of my reasons to use a Palm Powered handheld was to be able to keep information with me and of course to be able to log information wherever I am. Obviously one of the first task to tackle is note taking, either in meetings, the ocassional restaurant information, etc. The memo pad included in my m505 was more than enough at first but as I grow on experience I saw the need for a more powerful yet simple tool. There are several approches:

1. A word processing program. For taking notes? nahhh too complicated.
2. A more powerful text editor, like PED, again too complicated.

What to do? basically I had only two reasons why I was dissatisfied with memo pad, first it didn't offer any protection to my information, second I need it color. So I was ok with the limit of 4k for memo pad since this is only for note taking not to write a novel, if I want to write a novel I will then take another approach (like a word processing program).

After some research I found CryptoPad a wonderful program that filled my needs at an excellent price, FREE !!!

Now after 2 years of using the program and after exhausting the category limit (16) I saw a fatal problem with CryptoPad, a correct reference system, how can I find what I need it? I use CryptoPad for taking notes at meetings plus taking notes at different events I assist, when I am in the street and I need to write something down, but after you have more than 100 memos you can start to see that I had a little problem finding what I need it in a timely fashion...

How did I solve it? That’s the topic of my next column.

2003-06-08T17:20:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow I am due for my weekly comment, so I am going to take advantage of some time I have free today to publish my comment today.

This week comment is about PDAs. First I'd like to tell that I am a happy user of a Palm m505 PDA, it is being with me for over two years and it works great, I am starting to feel cramp with my m505 and I am planning in upgrading soon, but you know I am moving away from the topic, I want this weekly comment useful to a lot of people but one group in particular is the newbie’s in the PDA world, I think that people should be able to use the full power of their PDAs and don't feel overwhelmed for the amount of options out there, so I am going to layout a path to try to take advantage of the features of the PalmOS and third party applications, it is up to you if you want to follow it or not, what I guarantee you is that if you follow this path you will use your Palm PDA a lot and you will enjoy. There are like a thousand ways of using it, I am just offering what works for me in hope that it works for you.

The basics

As any path we should start with the basics, first there is a lot of PDAs out there, which should you buy? this is easy whichever you like the most and that fits your budget. As you know my PDA is old but still cover my needs, so I guess this should be a personal decision, you can go from the basic Zire all the way to the fancy Sony NZ, again this is a personal matter. Now the next step is how can I effectively use it?, again this is another tricky question but I hope I can be a lot more helpful with this question.

Calendar

Obviously you should have a ton of reasons for spending 100-800 dollars plus taxes and extended warranty, but I bet one of those is that you need an effective calendar, where you can input all the important events of you work and personal live, from birthdays to anniversaries to meetings and business lunches. Now the basic date book that comes with any PalmOS PDA is nice but after a while you will find it insufficient. Here I recommend that you get a date book replacement and here I know of three great options:

1. Datebk
2. Agendus
3. MyWeek.

I use to be a Datebk user and I liked the product but to me it offered way to many options as well as Agendus, my needs are basics, I just want to be able to categorize the use of my time, use colors so in a easy way I can see what I have to do and in which context (personal, work, to-do’s , etc) and I wanted to be able to hide some repeat events that I don’t care to see every time (like buying the lotto ticket every Tuesday and Friday). Based on these needs I ended up with MyWeek a simple and marvelous program that allow me to do all of this and a little bit more. This program uses little memory (I have only 8mb so I have to be frugal about this) and offers me all what I need. Obviously your needs could be different but my first recommendations to you, use the KISS principle every time that you can (Keep It Simple Stupid). Datebk and Agendus are great what with so many options that I doubt there is someone out there that use all the options, it’s like Microsoft Word, how many users really use the full power of this applications? How many of these same users will be more than happy with Microsoft Works? Or a simpler version of Word? Count me in, I do use a lot word but believe me, I don’t use 10% of its capabilities, same thing with Datebk and Agendus, great programs but since I don’t use all the features why should I use them? MyWeek gives me what I need and nothing less or more.

Now I know that probably you already know where you can buy Palm software, but anyway I recommend using www.palmgear.com great site, great prices.

I hope this comment was helpful to you, if you have any ideas or other comments please email me to micolumna@terra.com.mx

See you next week

2003-06-02T17:05:00.000-04:00

My idea is that every Monday I will try to post the though of the week,with ocasional updates in between, ok, let's start with todays thought which is about PDAs.

Many people out there doesn't see the tremendous potential of a PDA in their life, it is amazing how they can help you with everything, from the simplest thing like keeping your schedule which I know for some people is critical, not only for the busy executive but also for the soccer mom, I mean I can imagine handling the schedule of 3 children without a PDA, I mean it is possible but with a PDA is just 10 times easier. I use my palm for everything, to keep my checking account balance, to keep my timesheet ( I am a contractor ), to keep the office telephone list, my customer phone list, my wife's tax deductions, to organize my life and projects, reference material, read books, write, internet access, etc, etc, etc. One of my goals of this blog is to allow other people check how I use my PDA (Palm m505) in improving my life, starting with the simple tasks like scheduling, address and to-do to the full fledge relational databases. So each of the people that checks this blog should be able to choose which of the different scenarios fits their lives. I hope you like, please email me if you like any of my ideas, if you don't like them, just don't use it ;)

Gabriel Castellanos

2003-06-01T16:11:00.000-04:00

This blog is a space for me to vent my personal views about life, inmigration and PDAs and any other topic that flashes through my mind. I like the idea of a blog since allows me to express my ideas in a simple format without all the trouble of actually creating a homepage, I hope someone finds my ideas interesting.

Just as a background I am a software engineer, I was born in Mexico but destiny brought me to the USA, currently I live in Albany, NY a wonderful small city but as you will learn sometimes is tough to live in. I love life, mobile technology and the USA, that's the reason behind the odd title, but enough of me, let's start this journey.

Gabriel Castellanos