Archive for the ‘technology’ Category

Panasonic X700 + iSync == true

Monday, December 27th, 2004

After some experimentation, frustration and lots of googling, my new Panasonic X700 now works with iSync.

Since the X700 is a Symbian Series 60 phone, I assumed (quite correctly) that since a whole bunch of other Series 60 phones can sync with iSync, so should this one. Note that this applies to bluetooth, I did not test any other method.

Below I provide a list of changes that are needed to make your phone play ball with iSync. There are two ways to do it, the fast way and the slow way. The slow way allows you to add your own fancy picture for the phone. The fast way shows your phone as a Nokia 3650. I did the slow way until I realised that the fast way works just as fine.

You should know how to work the Terminal for this. If you don’t, learn that first.

CD into /Library/Application Support/SyncService/501

501 is the numeric value of your username, you can find it by using the id command.

Once you are there, edit the file SymbianConduitDefaults.plist, it should actually not exist, so you will be creating a new file. Into this file, paste the following content:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist
         PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN"
         "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<array>
    <dict>
        <key>kBTEmptyFolderIsOkayReally</key>
        <false/>
        <key>kNSSyncDeviceID</key>
        <string>xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx</string>
        <key>kNSSyncDeviceName</key>
        <string>X700</string>
        <key>kNSSyncDeviceShouldSlowSyncCalendars</key>
        <false/>
        <key>kNSSyncDeviceShouldSlowSyncContacts</key>
        <false/>
        <key>kNSSyncDeviceUseCalendars</key>
        <true/>
        <key>kNSSyncDeviceUseContacts</key>
        <true/>
        <key>kSymbianConduitDayRangeKey</key>
        <integer>14</integer>
        <key>kSymbianConduitModelKey</key>
        <string>3650</string>
        <key>kSymbianHasDeviceSynced</key>
        <true/>
    </dict>
</array>
</plist>

Replace xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx with the Device ID (MAC) of your phone. This can be found in System Preferences/Bluetooth/Devices.

Save the file. Next step is delete all pairings between your computer and phone, and pair it again. Then start iSync and sync that stuff. The synchronization even includes contact pictures! Great stuff.

Problems:

#1: If you give custom names to fields for your contacts, those fields will usually cause problems. So avoid giving fields custom names, just use the default ones and everything will be fine.

#2: At first my phone and computer started the pairing but disconnected, this was solved by deleting the pairings and pairing them again. After that it worked like a charm.

If anyone has any other experiences with X700, feel free to post in the comments.

The solution came from lots of googling, but the biggest help was
here and here.

UPDATE:
It does not always work like a charm, but removing the pairing and re-pairing seems to do the trick. I’ll update more once I know more.

100Mbit/s in your wall… sucks ass

Sunday, July 11th, 2004

BBB (BredbandsBolaget), a Swedish ISP which delivers 10mbit lan connections and some VDSLs into peoples homes, recently added a new service to their lineup. 100Mbit/s.

Everyone thought: WOW GOOD GOD! 100mbit will blow my brain away (just like in that Powermac G5 commercial a while ago).

Unfortunately, corporate stupidity which makes that company loose money all the time, will make them loose some more. The 100Mbit/s service has a 300gb transfer limit per month. Anything above that will cost you 200kr per 100gb. 200kr is about 25 amerikanski dollars.
If you do not pay, you are reduced to a measly 128Kbit/s.
We said it was stupid from the start, but bigmac decided to give it a try.

After about 16 hours of activation, my server with DC++ running on it, had reached 160gb of outgoing traffic. Bigmac’s own DC machine had about 100gb.

Meaning, in less then a day we almost filled our quota. Something that made bigmac cancel his 100Mbit/s line before the day was over.

I wonder who they think will order that 100mbit service? I mean, seriously, anyone who wants 100mbit is a download maniac, but if they fill up their quota in one day, what’s the point?
In that case I’d rather pay 50% less and get 10Mbit/s without any limits.

Of course, I am still sitting with stinky Cable Internet… Lucky for me, I at least have 8Mbit/1Mbit. I remember when I could only have 512Kbit/128Kbit…

Opening up the Nexus

Friday, June 25th, 2004

Update: Right now the Nexus is closed again due to me doing some restructuring of my internal network.

My wireless network used to be called the Nexus, and was hiding its SSID and using mac filtering. However now that I only have 1 piece of computer hardware, a powerbook, which in itself is more then secure against evil h4xx0rs, I figured I’d open up the network for all to use, and call it angelhill.net [FFA]. Next step is to put the wireless box closer to the window, but that will require some rewiring… So in a few days I’ll have it done.

I always expect open and free wireless networks available to me when I need them, especially in major cities. However until now I have been somewhat of a hypocrite on that point, since my own network was sealed. However now, I thought would be a good time to open it. So if you ever see the network angelhill.net, that means you’re nearby ;)

I have a Dream!

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2004

I dream of a Lan Party where everyone has a laptop with a wireless connection.
I dream of only having power cables to worry about. (I would not complain without those either)
I dream of being able to arrange an event like that with 10 or so people, and we can all indulge in countless destructive battles of StarCraft. (or some Battlefield… hehe)

Wouldn’t it be cool? 10 people, 10 Powerbooks, No Cables. Bliss.

Blogger Meetup Stockholm: The aftermath

Sunday, June 13th, 2004

IMG_2084
Today I was at an informal gathering of a few bloggers in Stockholm, on the roof café at Kulturhuset. The man behind the initiative was Joi Ito. Joi turned out to be a nice guy, down to earth and filled with interesting ideas (this was no surprise to anyone who has been following his blog, of course). The other people who attended (Maya, Per, Max, Ludovic, Erik, Jon, Kim, David and Roine) were also really cool and we discussed a lot of interesting issues on both large and small scales.

Well, Max is only 6 months old so he mostly kept quiet throughout the entire thing.
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Progress sucks?

Tuesday, April 20th, 2004

I bought a new Powerbook 15″ on Sunday. The problem is, that the next day, Apple released new models, and suddenly my shiny new Powerbook was not so new anymore.

Sometimes progress sucks. Well at least I bought it in the US for good dolla, so I can probably sell it in Sweden for profit and get a new model anyway! Bwahahha!!

I should have done my research of course, but this weekend was stressful for me, so I guess I kinda just made a blunder. I usually do research. Most of the time….

Blogging on the Road

Wednesday, April 7th, 2004

Programming in my car
Technology is great. I am sitting in a car on my way to Göteborg with bigmac, to pick up a boat he is importing from the USA. During the trip I decided to do some work on our new super-secret SMS service, and using my trusty T610 and a GRPS connection, I was able to make code modifications and upload them back to the ftp server. Smokin. Technology still never ceases to amaze me. Oh and this blog was also conducted while driving at 150km/h. I think I am getting queesy. Must look at road.

Click on the picture to see a wonderful example of technology at work. Maybe I’ll actually have to pay for GRPS traffic this month.

War of the Cameras: Digital Ixus i vs Exilim S3

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2004

I recently bought a new digital camera. A Canon Digital ixus i, known in some parts of the world as Powershot SD10. This was a replacement to my Casio Exilim S3, which I sold after my Miami trip. Unlike the Casio, which exhibited bad picture quality and minor design flaws, the Canon is really cool. I shall now write up a review of my experiences with both cameras, so you can judge for yourself.
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Safari Bug - Finally Solved

Wednesday, January 14th, 2004

I’ve been having this nasty bug with Safari on my Powerbook, it would suddenly stop loading pages and would need to be restarted. I’ve never seen it happen on any other mac I’ve used, and even after I reformatted my harddrive, I still had the bug.

I thought my laptop was cursed, but now, by pure chance, I found the solution.
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