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Acer Aspire One
I have a new toy. I've been lusting after one of the so called 'netbooks' for a while, but as I couldn't justify it, I've been holding off, knowing that the price will drop of the older models and drawing up a selection criteria.
When the supermarkets started stocking them I knew I'd be able to get a good deal, and this thursday, as we did our weekly shop at ASDA, they were selling the Acer Aspire One for £215. This was the one I had my eye on too, with a 120GB hard disk. The only thing it doesn't have is bluetooth, and I only use that for Blackberry connectivity these days, and have a usb adaptor or two hanging around. Plus there's this cute almost-flush usb adaptor doing the rounds for £15 or so, so why pay more for a Lenovo or Asus 'top of the line' netbook for just that?
I never thought I would, but I succumbed to walking around ASDA, shopping, with my iPhone checking out the excellent Ubuntu documentation (yes, I'm switching from Debian to Ubuntu. Don't hate me. I'll still run vanilla Deb on a server..) to make sure I could get it working, before purchasing it. At least it wasn't the Blackberry. Of course, a busy week at work means I didn't get to play with it properly until the weekend.
The Linux it comes with is OK, but I can see how people might be underwhelmed. Rather than learn another *nix variant, I used the USBstick method of live booting Ubuntu 8.10 to install it. A hint for those trying - the Ubuntu 8.10 program appears to be slightly b0rked - it created the image on the 4GB Kingston Data Traveller stick I had, but it wouldn't boot, with a 'invalid boot partition' image. This is apparently a reported bug on Launchpad, and the workaround is to use a different tool - the distro agnostic unetbootin. Interestingly, everyone reporting it had a Kingston 4GB stick..
Ubuntu then installed fine, no wireless. As the docs said, I did a full update and installed the backports Atheros driver. No joy. Much rebooting and checking of /var/log/messages and dmesg and swearing. Then I tried turning it on with the soft switch. Success! Ahem.. Rebooted after some other changes and... no wireless. More swearing, more pressing switches. Eventually discovered via Ubuntu forums that problems with the WPA authentication being fixed by shutting down and leaving it for a few mins prompted me to try that, and success! No idea what that's about, but so far (touch wood) its worked fine. Oh, and the 120GB hard disk? 160GB in mine. Splendid!
I'm documenting what I install for a followup 'what to add after installing Ubuntu' meme thats doing the rounds on the Ubuntu Planet blog aggregator.

I've used the word Ubuntu a lot, but this experience, and that of my MacBook has really shown me how far the distro is ahead of the others in terms of documentation and thinking about what people want to do with it. Very impressed so far.
Of course, Fedora Core 10 ('Cambridge' heh.) is out on Tuesday, so I'll be trialling that at work. It may win me over, you never now.

It looks like I'm not the only one buying one of these. And blogging about it..

Posted at: 23:31:01 23 Nov 2008 [/gadgets] permanent link

Blackberry Bold
This was finally released by T-Mobile, so of course I got one to 'evaluate' for work. The first (working) 3G Blackberry from RIM definitely bears investigation..
Actually, I'm quite impressed. The 3G modem works easily under Linux using WVDial (you can figure it out, but a good set of instructions are here.
I'm also impressed how open it is - the internet memory and the microSD card show up as drives under Linux, and both Ubuntu 8.10 and Fedora Core 9 appear to charge the device just fine from the USB port. With the latest (1.4) version of Banshee the drives show up as mass storage devices so you can copy music files to and fro (no support for Ogg that I'm aware). Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to support playlist sync, but I might look into syncropated to provide playlist sync. If it supported smart playlist sync and remembering the position of files so marked, I'd be able to switch away from my iPhone. Alas, it doesn't seem to, but I might look to see if there are music players for the BB that do..
Almost forgot - its apparently possible to set-up two way syncing using Multisync with Evolution, so I could sync diary and address book, if I wanted.
Battery life is pretty good. I use BlueProximity at work to lock and unlock my screen when I walk away and back to my laptop, and the downside is that I haven't hit the sweet spot between pinging the bluetooth often enough to be responsive and draining the battery, so its hard on the phone. My old BB Pearl lasted just over a day, but it looks like the Bold will last two easy.
The downsides? Well, the web browsing experience is pretty crummy still - I installed Opera but that didn't help much, its still nowhere as nice as the iPhone.
I guess my next best hope is the T-Mobile Android G1. I can't get it via work, as its not on the business tariff, and it has enough issues (3.5 headphone adaptor? Hello?) that I don't intend getting one for me just yet, but its very promising. Interestingly, the Banshee 1.4 release brings native G1 support - smart playlists, everything. It is very tempting.. Perhaps I'll wait for some other phones to come out with the Android OS on (or an iPhone port! :-).

Posted at: 11:38:27 22 Nov 2008 [/gadgets] permanent link

Ubuntu on my Macbook
So a few weeks previous, running low on space on the 120GB drive I'd got with my core 2 duo black macbook, I bought a larger hard disk for it (first from Dabs, which was a mistake, because apparently there are two types of 2.5" disk, one larger than the other. and the Macbook takes the smaller, naturally. I then went to macupgrades.co.uk, and got a 320GB drive for not much more, which fitted perfectly. Restore was easy with Superduper!. A week or so later, I was reading about the Ubuntu 8.10 release, and came across the Ubuntu Community page for installing on Macbooks.
It showed that using BootCamp, I could partition my drive without losing data, and install Ubuntu. So I did. The page also covered the setup for the hardware, which, apart from the iSight, worked out of the box. I even got multi touch button clicking working, which is needed on the Macbooks, and damn cool!
I can't honestly say what I did to get the iSight working, but the instructions were most of it. I think the issue is that you need to power cycle, not just reboot, after copying over the firmware, otherwise it doesn't detect the camera properly. Took me til 2am sat night to discover that, though.. The things I'll do to get Cheese working..

I'm impressed with the hardware detection - the Ubuntu article is pretty comprehensive, but I could have used 90% of the kit out of the box.
I liked the fact that it mounted the HFS+ partition (albeit read-only) so I could copy files over.
In fact, with the aid of the iTunes and Rhythmbox Ratings script and site, I was able to import all the items in my iTunes library into RhythmBox, and then import all the ratings. As I've spent hours rating most of my library, and have playlists that select on ratings, last played etc, all of which I can replicate in RhythmBox, being able to import all of this was very helpful and rather cool. A tip for anyone else trying this, as mentioned in the comments on the site, you need to make sure that the songs have a rating first before running the script, or it can't adjust the ratings correctly. I simply marked all my songs as 1 star, then reran the script. Power saving works flawlessly, not something I've had good experiences with on Linux.

On the downside, I've noticed the laptop runs hotter, although I suspect I can adjust the fan speeds until I get the coolness I'm used to. Also, Network Manager, while being fine and all that, does still lose its mind from time to time and not connect the wireless networks I use.

I'm very tempted to move over. I've ported my RSS feeds from NetNewsWire to Google Reader, and bought an app for the iPhone that syncs with it. Google reader, using Gears, can be used offline, so I've not lost any functionality, and have found it faster than NNW, although not quite as much of a pleasure to use. The iPhone. Therein lies the sticking point. I can reformat my iPod to FAT32 and use it with RhythmBox - I can even install RocketBox and play Ogg files, but the iPhone itself I may not be abe to manage or sync. I've jailbroken it, and I know people have got it working, but its flaky.
Will I keep booting into MacosX to sync the iPhone, or will I change it to another device? I'm not sure. Podcast syncing and tethering are 'just around the corner' for the iPhone, which would greatly reduce the need to sync it, as that's what I listen to the most. Also, what alternatives are there? The N95/6 is a great phone, Symbian etc, but reportedly hard to get to work with Linux. I had high hopes for the Android phone, but I don't like the hardware - at least I can change the headphones on the iPhone!

Posted at: 22:40:42 6 Nov 2008 [/gadgets] permanent link

Just upgraded my Macbook's hard disk
Remarkably painless. The most difficult part was ordering the right hard drive (not all 2.5" drives are the same size, apparently. Yes, I know.). So poor marks to Dabs, which took a week to ship my order ("usually ships in 24 hours!"), and only decided to when I complained, and full marks to macupgrades.co.uk, which, for 30 more than I was going to pay at dabs for a smaller disk, sold me the right sized disk - and one thats 320GB!
You'll need a Phillips #0 Screwdriver and a Torx T8 Screwdriver - which was the hardest for me, I ended up using one at work, so must buy some v. small torx.
Using SuperDuper! I made a bootable clone of my current 120GB disk (which as its part of my normal backup routine, took 15 mins to update the image), swapped out the drive in its caddy, booted into disk utility from an OSX install CD, formatted the disk, and selected restore from the USB disk. Took about 3 hours, all told. Now I can start creating and using the assorted Virtual machines I need!

Now to buy a USB caddy for the old disk, and partition the huge USB dsk into Time Machine and 320GB clone for my new disk!

Posted at: 07:49:40 4 Oct 2008 [/gadgets] permanent link

Unbreakable Fighting Umbrella - for the very British Mrtial Artist..
Saw this on BoingBoing, redirected to Wired.
Can't find a place to buy it, and am not sure I'd want to spend ~£100 on a umbrella, but I do so want one.. How can anyone resist the chosen weapon of the Philipino Secret Service!

Wait, no, you can buy it at this rather scary shop..
Still, £100..

Posted at: 09:42:53 19 Jul 2008 [/gadgets] permanent link

Using your Blackberry as a Bluetooth modem under MACOSX
I'm running ther latest version, if that matters (10.5.3)..
I found some excelent instructions at Fibble.org Which inclue a chat script. The documentation is for an 8100 (Pearl), but worked fine with my 83100 (Curve).

Posted at: 15:49:53 15 Jun 2008 [/gadgets] permanent link

Oh dear
73%How Addicted to Apple Are You?

Posted at: 21:57:53 21 Nov 2007 [/gadgets] permanent link

iPhone Thoughts
Been playing with it for the afternoon, on and off.
Interesting to see that they seem to have taken a page out of Microsoft's book in the licensing agreement (yes, I read it. I'm new to 02, and I've gotten in the habit anyway from work..);
e) THE IPHONE SOFTWARE AND IPHONE SOFTWARE UPDATES ARE NOT INTENDED FOR USE IN THE OPERATION OF NUCLEAR FACILITIES, AIRCRAFT NAVIGATION OR COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS, LIFE SUPPORT MACHINES OR OTHER EQUIPMENT IN WHICH THE FAILURE OF THE IPHONE SOFTWARE OR IPHONE SOFTWARE UPDATES COULD LEAD TO DEATH, PERSONAL INJURY, OR SEVERE PHYSICAL OR ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE.
Fortunately, I'm not planning to do any of that..
...
It seems that Cambridge has an Edge network. I specifically didn't associate with the wireless access point at home to test usability 'on the road' and was surprised at how usable it was, given the godawful experience I've had trying to use other mobile browsers.
...
While switching between apps is easy with the home key, it seems its not rue switching and doesn't keep the apps open when you change, so any websites get reloaded in safari, for instance. Not a major pain, but worth knowing.
...
The YouTube application, which i had down as a waste of space, has lead me to digging up all kinds of music videos for KT, Amy, Ronson and Sophie. Amazing what can be found on there, and even more amazing that people buy the music videos!
...
Battery life has been good. Most of the video watching and music playing went on on the sofa, and no measurable effect on the battery..
...
Browsing websites and photos on it is a real pleasure with the finger gestures. I'm still not sure about the on-screen keyboard, but its growing on me. Not sure I'd want to o lengthy emails on it, but then, I never did on the Blackberry, and that has a full qwerty keyboard..
...
Yes, I have a new (or rather personal, since I keep the work phone) mobile number. You should get an email from me tomorrow if you know me. If you don't get an email, drop me a line. If you don't know me, why are you reading this? I can't be that interesting!

Posted at: 23:17:23 10 Nov 2007 [/gadgets] permanent link

First Problem with Leopard
Just tried to print, only to find that while MacOS X detects my printer (using the gimp-print gutenburg driver, interestingly), it doesn't actually, you know, print to it. Sigh. Leopard has the latest versions of the Gutenburg version (5.1.13) as part of the OS, which haven't been updated since June 5th 2007. There are some encouraging posts on Apple's website from an HP developer pointing at beta drivers, and talking about rolling out support for more as soon as they can. Given its not been out long, thats a quick response from such a mamoth corporate, so here's hoping. I really dont want to have to buy a new printer (or downgrade to 10.4)..

Posted at: 22:45:35 6 Nov 2007 [/gadgets] permanent link

I don't want one of these
..but as my work bag normally has a leatherman and an multi-bit torque screwdriver, perhaps I should get a Giant Swiss Army Knife. This monster "contains all 85 tools currently produced by Wenger". Then again, its $999, so I might be better off with my £60 (8 years ago) leatherman and £2 (halfords, two weeks ago) screwdriver..

Posted at: 23:37:47 3 Nov 2007 [/gadgets] permanent link

On iPod Touches, iPhones and PDA's
So... I'm hankering for a new PDA. The Blackberry that work provide is all well and good, but it doesn't work too well as a diary, and I keep missing SMS messages from friends because they get swallowed by the volume of email I get on the device. I'm also considering splitting my work diary and contacts from personal ones. All of this leads me to a separate home PDA.
I've been fortunate to be able to spend a fair amount of time (and a little money) investigating such things for work, so I'm familiar with the Nokia BB equivalents, the E series, and the Windows Mobile devices. Then Apple came along with the iPod Touch and iPhone.
My first thought was that I'd get an iPod Touch, as this does web surfing, Contacts and iCal. Alas, Apple have locked out the ability to edit & enter appointments into iCal. This appears to be deliberate, because the touch sensitive interface allows typing and new entries in all the other apps. Once the Touch was cracked, however, it turns out that changing an entry in an XML file (which Apple use for all their config files) from user editable=No to Yes, allows entry. However, its likely that Apple will 'fix' this on their next software update. You might suggest just not applying any future updates, but smart money is on the Touch/iPhone being the big push/portal for Apple, so, given my gadget proclivities, this isn't a workable strategy for me, long term. It look the Wily hackers several weeks to break into the Touch, and I'd rather not have an unuseable PDA for that period. Also, no mail client.
Those of you knowledgeable in the gadget world, may then suggest I go for a Nokia Internet Tablet, especially since they've just revved them, and the older model (the N800) is available at a steep discount. The appeal of this device is further enhanced by the fact it runs Linux, and can be easily improved (in fact, it runs a cut down X11, and so most s/w can be recompiled for it. Indeed, there is quite the repository. Everything a techie could want in terms of email, web browsing, GPS, even bluetooth access to your mobile for when you can't find a Wifi point. Unfortunately, no calender and no way to sync the pitiful contacts app with anything. Yes, I probably could write my own, but I've done this before, and it never works as well as you'd like. Thanks to a seriously non-scriptable (I'm not learning windows development just to use ActiveSync or similar, thank you) interface, its always a hack to get your diary and contacts out and back in again.

Which brings me to the iPhone. Seamlessly integrates with my MacBook, ubiquitous internet access through EDGE (no 3G, but I've had spotty success with that even when I've had a capable device) and Wifi (especially since O2 will be bundling access to a wifi hotspot called 'the cloud' in with it, and I have access to the T-Mobile hotspot system via work) camera phone etc etc. The downside, 18 month non-trivial contract, and no outside applications.
The last option really killed it for me. When I was using the Nokia's, the range of applications available, tied with the features of the device was outstanding (I'm still wowed by the combination of apache and python running on the e70 that alllowed me to use the built in camera as a webcam from the internet, not to mention the althetics training application that integrates route monitoring and GPS, all available free from Nokia).
However, recent announcements have changed this somewhat; Apple are being forced by French Law to make unlocked iPhones available in France, and they announced an SDK for the iPhone, to be available to developers in February. The potential for the all the beautiful, useful Mac apps to get tied into the iPhone just make me drool. The idea of Delicious Library having an iPhone extension that allowed me to scan the barcodes of books from the phone's camera, and then input the details either over the air (wifi/bluetooth, whatever) or on the next sync, while allowing you to note books you'd like to buy, and lend books out without firing up the mac, is just super (and as I follow Will Shipley's blog, I know he's thinking about what he can do with this), not to mention the RSS reading App, Net News Wire having an iPhone client, and I don't need my mac with me for 90% of my trips. Plus, its an ipod (and have you used the touch interface? So spendid - I went from not wanting an Ipod Touch, to really wanting one within 5 minutes of playing with a friends (under the guise of showing him what it did, you understand..).
So its probably obvious where I'm going with this. Come the 9th November, I'll be in the o2 shop, singing up to a contract with O2. I know this makes me a Mac Fanboy, but I think I've got good reasons, and I'm in good company...

Posted at: 22:44:43 27 Oct 2007 [/gadgets] permanent link

MAC OS X 10.5(Leopard) First Thoughts
Yes, of course I bought and installed it, but at least I waited until the saturday, rather than wait outside the shop on friday night! Mind you, I was coming back through London around the release time, and I have to confess that it was tempting to divert my journey..
Anyway, so far, the 'upgrade in place' install option (I had a good backup, just to be sure), went fine, and I spent time playing with the new features (as those who follow my facebook profile will know). My initial impression is that it is actually faster on my 2GB RAM 2GHz core duo MacBook than Tiger was. Coming from using Vista at work (another blog post, if I can summon the energy, at another time), this is even more of a pleasant surprise. I confess, I'm looking forward to seeing what the third party guys make of the new under the hood features. So far, though it just works which is all I ask of my Mac.

Posted at: 22:39:13 27 Oct 2007 [/gadgets] permanent link

Mac Software Highlight
In my recent trips abroad, or indeed anytime I'm away from home, I find Aurora a real boon. Its a little aarm app, which starts an itunes playlist at a said time, and also allows you to set iTunes playing, and then turn off in X mins - perfect for listening to music or podcasts while you drift off to sleep, and just fantastic for waking up. You can also control it with the apple remote that comes free with the MacBook.
This time, I had my collection of Violin music playing to wake me up - I'm hoping that this will keep my 'ear' in for my lesson tomorrow after a weeks lack of practice!

Posted at: 11:29:06 9 Jun 2007 [/gadgets] permanent link

On GPS Systems
I've had a GPS for about a year in the form of a cheap but excellent Bluetooth no-name GPS (via MobileFun.co.uk) that charges via USB and uses a mobile phone battery, connected to Wayfinder on my mobile. On the Nokia Series 60 2nd ed platform (E61, E70), it was rock solid, but basic - no points of interest or waypoints. Crashed once while receiving a call, but never repeated it.
I then switched back to a Blackberry (8100 pearl), and as Wayfinder make a client for that as well, and allow you to use any client you like for your purchase, put it on that. Slightly more features, but considerably more buggy. Often wouldn't connect to the GPS (nothing else had this problem, other phones, laptops, all worked fine), and would often lose connection in the middle of a journey and refuse to connect, even after a reboot of phone and GPS (not fun while driving!). As I have to take a couple of drives this month for work, I bit the bullet and bought myself a Garmain Nuvi 310 So far (I've only had it a few days), I'm pretty pleased with it. It has a host of other functions, most of which I don't care about (it was cheap on amazon for the two functions I did want), but the one I do use is the hands-free function. I've had to use it several times in the past few days, and its good quality sound, with ease of use. I haven't used the voice dialing function, as IIRC, this relies on the phone's function, and I've never found them much use. It can dial from the phone's address book, though, which as this is synced from my mac and the servers at work, contains all my contacts, which is very handy.
GPS is fairly good, but I've not used it in anger, only tried it out going home where it took me a long way home. I'd got used to the Wayfinder shaving travel time off my journey, so we will have to see how the garmin does. Its much more responsive than the Wayfinder, though, recalculating quickly and locking onto satellites much faster. Its speed camera database is much better as well.
More thoughts when its been used in anger a few times.
37signals have a review on thier blog it seems, with more details than mine, all of which I agree with.
It seems there is both a Mac and Windows client for updating the device. No linux, though. I wonder if they'd open source the box?

Posted at: 06:39:55 14 May 2007 [/gadgets] permanent link

Whats in My Gadget Bag?
I'm in Guadalajara, Mexico this week for work. While getting my bag ready in the hotel for the week, I thought it might be a good time to do a Gadget Bag post. Not shown was my 60GB 5th gen iPod (I was listening to it, and forgot..), my HP Phtotsmart E217 (used to take the picture), and my Airport Express (not used because the Wifi is SO GOOD at the hotel). Also not shown is my IBM Thinkpad and power adaptor, because, unlike the Mac, it doesn't want to work out here.. :-)

Posted at: 05:23:23 26 Feb 2007 [/gadgets] permanent link

Do You Want To Play A Game?
I've updated my Xmas Flikr Set with a couple of photos of the USB controlled device I got from Santa. The windows interface is pretty crummy, but the Mac one is much better Not only is it open source, but its got more options than the windows one. I'm looking forward to the option where you can program a 'route'.. :-)

Posted at: 16:27:10 1 Jan 2007 [/gadgets] permanent link

Pole Dancing, via your computer
Yes, you read that right.
Now, I'm a fan of the USB powered gadget, as my friends and colleagues know. However, I find myself, agreeing with the (gasp) Daily Mail in saying this might be a step (twirl? Gyrate?) too far.
M&S, that bastion of good taste and decency, had to take off thier shelves and website a
wait for it..
USB Powered Pole Dancer
19.50 it was. Words fail me.

Posted at: 12:57:48 12 Dec 2006 [/gadgets] permanent link

The New 'I want one' list
Voice controlled R2D2
Dot it lights - USB sticky LED lights
Carbon Butterfly Remote Control Plane
Wallet 2.0, a Filing Cabinet for Your Pocket
Non-Bluetooth, Bluetooth Style Headset Flashlight
USB Rechargeable LED Badge

Ah, Gizmodo, you've got to love it..

AA batteries with built-in USB charging-plugs
Seven-headed task-light
wind-up robot/pencil-sharpener winds when you sharpen your pencil
Some items I forgot from BoingBoing..

Posted at: 08:23:08 7 Oct 2006 [/gadgets] permanent link

Nokia E61
I got this for work, for someone who didn't want a Blackberry, but did want a 3G phone. It came with Blackberry Connect software that tied the mail program into the always-on push email Blackberry service, which I hadn't played with so I got us two, so I could field trial it..

They're not getting mine back (unless I get an upgrade.. :-).
This is my gadget of the year. If I could get one - same form factor - which had a camera, it would be perfect simply so I could scan documents with it.
I've been playing with PDA's for a while (company sponsored - honest!), and wasn't satisfied with the Windows Mobile or Windows Pocket PC offerings - they just didn't feel right, not to mention the abysmal battery life and the fact that prior to the latest generation, they lost all thier info & programs if both batteries went flat. Plus, the addon's sucked, IMHO.
I've been tempted by the power of smartphones after reading Paul McCauley's < a href="http://cgi.kript.net/blosxom.cgi/2006/06/18#WholeWideWorld">Whole Wide World, and none of the Windows devices quite met what I was looking for. I'm aware that the latest HP iPaq might, but thats a moot point now.
The Nokia runs Symbian Series 60 edition 3, which is a distant relative of the Psion Os - my first love afair with PDA's. It has a mail client that can use digital certificates on both sending and receiving mail, using POP3 or IMAP. It has a kick-ass web browser. It has 3G GPRS and Wifi, along with the de facto bluetooth. 30 seconds googling got it working in iSync on the Mac, and the PC management software worked flawlessly (also including a picture converter to convert your desktop images to backdrops for the phone - nice touch!).
I can upload .sis files via bluetooth to either the phone memory or the included memory card, and install them that way, as well as use the bluetooth file manager on my iBook to send them as bvluetooth messages which appear in their SMS in-tray, which is so convenient I do this for most things now..
It has built in support for GPS, which worked fine with a commodity Bluetoth GPS receiver I borrowed from a fellow gadget freak at work. There are half a dozen relatively well known names making Navigation s/w for the platform.

Update I've been writing this post over several weeks. Well, since I wrote the above I've had more time to play with it - I've taken it on a Stag Voyage and on holiday to Bilbao, installed and uninstalled applications and had a chance to use the email client and the web browser in anger, both on GPRS (3G and 2G) and Wifi.
I'm happy to report that the web browser is excellent, although it has varying support for .sis files downloading. The email program is less good however - I've never managed to get it to do more than list the messages in the mail folder on my kript.net, Gmail or personal UW IMAP server before it crashes. I think this is due to the Wifi support, though - I'm trialing Profimail and this is much more robust, although it does highlight the fact that the wifi support on the device deauthenticates with my AP within a few mins - I've had problems with my work laptop doing this as well, so I suspect its just a bit dodgy - I'll try it with my Airport Express. Anyway, the Profimail service allows me to not only use certicate based secure IMAP, but also view all the subfolders within the IMAP server. Given some issues I'm having with kript.net's email and MAil.app on the iBook at the moment, I might end up using that for quick checking..
There is a version of Putty which installed and worked flawlessly - it supports public/private key files as well, so that might reduce typing further, but I haven't had to play with it much, although when I needed it to just work, it did, so thats good (mini-update - it does support key files, but damned if I could find out how to save a config, so of limited use).
I was astounded to find that Perl and Python have been made to work on Series 60 as well as Apache, mod python etc. I've installed it all and am going to have a go playing with it, particularly as someone has writen an interface to the GPS software in python.
Which brings me to the next part of the post - I went out and bought myself a cheap bluetooth GPS from Mobilefun.co.uk for �40, and have been having great fun with that. I bought the Wayfinder navigation s/w for the E60, as they have a 5 day trial, which I used to navigate with the phone twice - once to a football stadium for a techie demo (long story) and another time to the Norfolk coast - it worked beautifull both times, so I paid the �60 to register it - all in, less than a 100 for a satnav system - pretty good, really! The software gets around the processing and storage limitations of smartphones by downloading maps and route calculations via GPRS while on route. I was worried about this, but after the two trips, had used less than 50k, so its not so much of a problem, particularly when you find you can download the maps to your device from thier website if you want.

Posted at: 21:20:18 23 Aug 2006 [/gadgets] permanent link

My Think Geek Wishlist
Rollerscape - Roller Coaster Construction
A desktop construction set that allows you to build your own marble passengered roller coasters!

Green-Red Laser Pointer
Very unique combination red and green laser pointer. Plus its soooo cool!

TV-B-Gone
Just point and press to turn off virtually any television. I'm thinking Tesco's. Every little certianly helps..

Wi-Spy Spectrum Analyzer
Helps you identify wi-fi interference. I have problems with my work laptop on the wifi downstairs, and I suspect my neighbors gazillion wireless points aren't helping..

LED Lanterns
These lanterns are pretty cool since they run on LEDs (it says in the blurb..geddit?)

Stonehenge Watch
Harness the power of the sun and the stones

USB Mini Desktop Aquarium
Fish swimming under a blue LED light

Flashlite Friends


Boostaroo Portable Amplifier
This tiny amplifier gives a volume (and quality according to some reviews) boost and mulitple headphone jacks

USB Mini Lava Lamp
I mean, how can you not?

Tetran Cable Winder
Keep your earbuds neat with small monsters.

Posted at: 22:23:56 13 Jul 2006 [/gadgets] permanent link

Now I *really* need to get an Intel Mac..
First there was the vmware like Parallells virtualisation software and now Codeweavers have announced they are releasing thier excelent Crossover windows emulation software for the intel mac - you can run windows apps directly within Macos!

Time to start saving up, I gues..

Posted at: 08:27:35 9 Jul 2006 [/gadgets] permanent link

Raccoon Open Sourced
Now this makes me wish I had a Series 60 capable mobile phone, instead of a work provided crackberry. Orielly Radar have an article on Raccoon, a S60 series web server, with some nifty proof of concept demo's. Reminds me of the bluetooth/wifi webserver/p2p app that ran on Pocket PC devices a while back.. Wonder what happened to that - now that I have one it might be fun to play with..

Posted at: 22:42:21 16 Jun 2006 [/gadgets] permanent link

Wicked Lazers
Pretty much everyone owns red laser pointers. Youve tried every method imaginable to see that red laser beam. But, youve never had the actual power until now. Wicked Lasers grants you the ability to shoot a red laser beam, green laser beam, or even blue laser beam from your laser pointer. Wavelengths or colors of laser beams vary in visual brightness even when the actual output power is the same. For instance, green lasers are more visible than blue lasers and red lasers because its color is much more noticeable to the human eye. Our 100mW red laser pointer will emit a laser beam that is visible in mid-air not just the laser beam dot. A 100mW green laser pointer will appear many times brighter than the 100mW red laser. With Wicked Lasers, the choice is yours: either a unique red laser, an extreme green laser, or a mesmerizing blue laser can be used for pointing to stars and constellations.

I can't justify buying one, even at $99.99 for the Green Laser, but that doesn't diminish the want one little bit..