Playing with My Tracks for Android

I was playing with my Flyer a bit today and decided to try put the My Tracks application I installed on it. I am not sure how accurate the GPS is bit it says that I ran at about 12MPH. I need to get a smaller device that would be easier to carry with me though.

The Time I had Palm Pilot

The Time I had Palm Pilot was a few years back.

I've been always a Pocket PC / Windows Mobile person, but it was an interesting experience to own Palm Pilot for a short time. I've used the Palm emulator on my Casio Cassiopeia E-700WE, but it's so different to use the real device.

I bought the Palm Pilot at a local Recycle Store, it was about $18 or so, maybe less. I liked the case that came with it, it was really professional looking. 

For Large Numbers!

For large numbers, why not a large calculator? The photo is of a Sperry Remington 1209 I was given several years ago. Next to it is a modern pocket calculator and a book of matches to serve as a reference to show how big this thing is. I'm not sure of the age but I'm guessing this calculator was made in the late 60s or early 1970s. Also, it plugs into the wall; no batteries.

When I find my toolbox I'll post some more photos as the inside of this calculator is way more fascinating. The 12 digit display, instead of being a single panel like a modern calculator display, is actually 12 separate vacuum flourescent display tubes; one for each digit. Also, each key actually has a magnet directly under it and a glass tube containing two pieces of metal. When you press a key down, the magnet gets close to the glass tube and pulls the two pieces of metal in it together to form a complete electrical circuit. Primitive and facinating at the same time, I think. This calculator, with such a design, must have cost a fortune to build.

Got Another Palm Today

I was at a second hand store and spotted a Palm Zire 31 on a shelf. For $1, how could I not buy it?

This little thing has an SD slot, headphone jack, 200mhz processor, small passive matric color screen with a 160x160 pixel resolution, 16mb internal memory.

It's by no means high end but never the less, I give credit to Palm for making the unit with a nice case that's attractive and comfortable to hold. The device also feels solid and seems as if it could withstand a few drops.

This one is in particularly good condition. No dirt or dust anywhere, no scratches and while it didn't come with a charger, I found the one from an old Nokia phone I no longer use works just fine with it.

A Genuine HP And An Imposter

Picked up a Hewlett Packard 10BII calculator today. As far as calculators go, it's nothing fancy; it has an array of business functions, 12 digit screen, some programmable memory. However, the styling, build quality and feel of the buttons is top notch. HP still makes some of the best calculators money can buy.

Next to it is my Palm TX running a program called Power48. It's a freeare app easily found through Google that allows your Palm to emulate an HP 48SX, 48GX or 49G. Of course, while entering numbers isn't as nice as on the real thing, numbers crunch through much faster than on the real thing.

Vote Results: WHITE OR BLACK?

Vote Results: WHITE OR BLACK? The Results came in.

White! 1 (50%)

Black! 1 (50%)

No, Grey! 0 (0%)

Thanks for voting!

Sigmarion 3 desktop (Japanese)

This is what a Sigmarion 3 desktop (Japanese) looks like. Yes. I have managed to get a Sigmarion 3 again. But it is going to be shipped off.

Palm TX and m130

Just a few days ago, I happened to find a Palm TX at a thrift shop with a leather case and USB cable. For $10 it was mine. At the same store, a few weeks earlier, I picked up a somewhat rough looking Palm m130 for $2.

The TX is a pretty nice unit for the most part. Unfortunately, a large amount of pre-existing software will not run properly on this device; it seems pickier with software than any other Palm OS device I've owned. Also, sometimes, for some odd reason, plugging or unplugging the USB sync cable causes screen glitches that, funny enough, are fixed by replugging and unpluging the cable again. Also, the power button isn't very sensitive. However, this unit runs pretty quick, has ample memory for software, built in bluetooth and wifi and a great screen.

As a web browser, the device is usable. Scripts don't always execute right and there's no Flash support so a good amount of the internet won't render right or at all. However, the majority of ads won't show on pages so there's a silver lining to that cloud. The bundled music player, PocketTunes, is easy to use, has a great interface and will continue playing music when you switch over to a different program. Also bundled is Documents to Go for natively creating, editing and viewing Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents and VersaMail which is a very lightweight and easy to use e-mail client. As with most Palm devices made after Xerox sued them, the default input method is a handwriting system called Graffiti 2. It might be nice for people new to Palm. However, anyone who used the original Graffiti long enough to get decent at using it will probably dislike it. Luckily, that's easily taken care of with a patch easily found on google. Even with wifi on and music playing, battery life on this handheld is very good. I haven't measured but can say several hours.

The other PDA I got, the Palm m130, is not a bad device either though with some paint coming off and a minor crack in the back, it has definitely seen better days. Mine came without a cable or cradle but I was able to take it apart, pull the battery, charge it and put it back in the device for a little bit of use. The 160x160 passive matrix screen isn't nearly as nice to look at as the 320x480 TFT on the TX but, never the less, is still respectable. It's very bright, colors are accurate, text is sharp and there's no noticable ghosting (being such a small screen and with low pixel count, the most visible problems with passive matrix screens are moot). The 16mb RAM was quite sufficient when the device was new and to expand on that, this device also has an SD slot. The case feels very solid and while this was a low end unit, build quality is very high and the device feels much more solid than my Palm TX.

Hey look who isn't dead!!!!

Thats right, I am ALIVE!!!!

Kinect and Android

I was thinking it will be cool if Kinect and Android could be connected. It's already been done.

This year in my Facebook Status.

This year in my Facebook Status. Yep. they analyze that.

And yes, I do Facebook.

Sony Tablet S

Here is my Sony Tablet S with a leather case.

Cool Robot Transformer

Cool Robot Transformer video I found through my Google+ feed.

Future Cafe - Part 1 - Interview with Intel CTO - Justin Rattner on the Future of Computing (video)

Future Cafe - Part 1 - Interview with Intel CTO - Justin Rattner on the Future of Computing (video from channelintel) Well, I'll be posting a series called Future Cafe. This will be focusing on the future of computing. Stay tuned for more to come.

Related Article

Big Data, Speed and the Future of Computing (NYTimes)

Took a Screenshot of Mohawk Search Engine on EMONSTER S11HT

I took a Screenshot of Mohawk Search Engine on EMONSTER S11HT (variant of HTC Tytn II).

I used a software called Ilium Software Screen Capture.

Mohawk is Version 2.29b now, and I am planning on making a English UI soon. 

The good thing about Opera mini is that since the browsing is done through Opera's server, I can use the address (http://mohawk.pearhands.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi) even if I am in the server's network. Kind of neat if you want to test if your link works from outside your LAN and stuff.