Pocket Scheme on EMONSTER S11HT (Tytn II)!

Pocket Scheme on EMONSTER S11HT (Tytn II)!

Sorry it's not a very good photo (barely legible lol), but I had to use my Vaio Z's webcam since I don't have a camera with me at the moment. I will post more pictures of me using Pocket Scheme later. I really like Pocket Scheme!

Apple PowerBook Duo Ad

Apple PowerBook Duo Ad Mikey showed me today. Very cool. :)

More Random Thoughts!

My last post, which as supposed to be about my new IS01, ended up getting more towards rambling, so I got some inspiration for another post. The main topic for this will be use of old technology, but since it is random thoughts, you can expect it to be more than just that! I haven't done one of these in a long time so here goes!

The whole point of this blog was actually for old computers, which is why it is called classical computing, versus modern computing. I have a passion for older stuff because I enjoy using it to its limit. I enjoy getting use out of the old stuff that other people just toss in a drawer to slowly rot away. So I guess you could say I rescue the unwanted and unloved electronics.

So the question a lot of people ask me is what I use the stuff for and my response is if it can save and edit a text file, and I can get the file onto a more modern device, then I will find a use for it. Pretty much I will use it as a digital memo pad at the very least. Sometimes that is the only use, but I try and find any use I possibly can.

Depending on the age of the device, as well as what it is, I enjoy using it to simply type up stuff such as recipes. That is one thing that started off as wanting to type up a few recipes from a cookie book a friend of mine had. That was when I noticed that I had an excuse to use my new toy, which at the time was a touch screen netbook. The netbook in particular is an Asus T91, which I admit was a mistake now that I look back.

It uses a 16GB SSD, but the issue with it is the speed. they used a slower, and therefore cheaper drive. That means when it is accessed, the netbook gets very leggy. It is a pain to change it, which is one of the reasons I have yet to change it. The other is that getting to it is a pain.

In fact, you cannot even get to he battery on it either. This was my fault however because I chose to ignore the reviews saying that it was slow. I had assumed that people said that it was slow because it was a netbook and they were simply tying to do too much with it. I have another netbook, one that uses a real hard drive, as well as a different Atom processor, that was far more usable. I had also upgraded it to 2GB of RAM though.

That was a lesson I learned. When someone says that it is slow, and you are ordering online, you should listen to it. I didn't want to return it since I liked the hardware, and thought that maybe using something other than Windows would help. I personally used my other netbook as a main computer for awhile after all. I was able to run a few programs at a time like Firefox and iTunes with no issues.

I still use the T91 for some stuff actually. Using old Palm handhelds, that netbook comes in handy for when I need to sync it since Palm doesn't have a proper USB driver for dual core or multi threaded processors. That was the first time I had a blue screen on Windows 7 actually.

I would use the other, and much better netbook if it didn't need a new screen cable. At certain points in the hinge, the screen will cut out or at the least flicker rather badly with lines in image. That is something I could probably fix but don't feel like spending more money. That netbook is also an Asus, in this case the 1005pe model in blue.

When I first got it, it was quite nice. I had upgraded the hard drive to a whopping 500GB even though a friend of mine told me that it was a waste for a netbook. It was also supposed to get an impressive 14 hour battery life but that was something I never truly tested. It had lasted me long enough that I had never needed to test it fully.

Personally, the way I look at it, is more about how you use what you have. I used to go after all of the newest stuff, which is nice to have, but sometimes the old stuff does something better, or something the newer stuff doesn't do at all. I still love new stuff, and I do buy new stuff like my Nexus 7, but I am not using that to type this up. For that I am using a combination of devices like the IS01 that I just last week.

The thing is, there are things that older stuff I have does that my newer stuff doesn't do. For example, my old NEC MobilePro 780 can work with multiple open files like two files in Word. That was good for school since I could work on different things.

The NEC was one of my favorite things to use in school actually, even though it was of limited use because the few applications that I could find for Windows CE often didn't work with the MIPS processor or the older version of Windows CE that it ran. In this case, it was 2.11, which was not upgradable like it is today.

My Evo runs Android 4.0.4, which is also known as Ice Cream Sandwich, but officially, it could only be upgraded to 2.3 or Ginger Bread. That is the reason why I love Android so much. Most devices have custom ROMs, like Cyanogenmod.

I think it is best that I end this here as it is already quite long. I will probably post more stuff later on.

Some Screenshots of Blox and Invaders!

Here are some screenshots of Blox and Invaders! played on MobilePro 400 I took. The screenshot of the Invaders! couldn't be shot well, because it was in full-screen mode.

NEC MobilePro 400 Arrived!

Here's a picture of MobilePro 400 that Mikey sent me as a Christmas present. :) It's nice, it runs Windows CE 1.0, and was made in Philippines. It was released in 1997, so it's 16 years old! I can run it with 3V AA batteries, so I don't have to worry about forgetting an AC adapter or the battery running low as long as I have the backup battery in it that holds charge.

The MobilePro 400 has a PCMCIA slot so I can add a LAN card or CF card via PCMCIA adapter. I will be writing more about this classic device soon so keep tuned!

Thank you Mikey for this cool gift!

IS01 Part 2

As you might have noticed, I only posted a small update on getting the Sharp IS01. This was intentional so I could take some time to post my first impressions later after using it for a bit. This also makes it easier to post up some pictures later. It can be hard to get a very good picture sometimes when there isn't a good area for my camera to focus on. That is one of the downsides of a nice DSLR I guess.

This isn't about my choice of camera though. Though that could be a good post for later maybe. The point of this post is the device in my hand that I type this on. I like to use the device as much as I can so I can form a more detailed opinion. What I am trying to say is that I am only doing final editing like spell check and adding pictures on a computer, and typing the actual post on the IS01.

The reason for me getting this was solely for writing my book. That is something I will admit to trying several times, and usually ends up the same way. I will add a link to what I have so far at the bottom of the post, and if enough people comment about it, I will post updates here as well. Once again, that is something for a different post.

The reason I got the IS01 over something else was the size looked nice. It has a 5 inch screen which makes it smaller than my tablet, in this case the Nexus 7, but larger than my Evo that I also got from Tsubasa. While I do like the Evo, using the onscreen keyboard can be slow and annoying, but with the extended battery I use, it can out last other devices, but that is yet another post for another day.

I also ended up getting a Droid 2, from another friend that I also posted about. Although that is another post, a trend for this post it seems, I have plans to use both devices for writing. The reason being that it has a keyboard as well, but the difference being it lights up. That is one downside to the IS01.

Another downside is there is no headphone jack, at least not in a traditional sense. In Japan they used a strange looking flat jack. I do not have an adapter so that means taking something else for music use anyway. That may not be such a bad thing when you consider the fact that it only has 256MB of RAM after all. You need to keep in mind the time this came out, that was standard amount. Today we usually have at least 1GB or more. We tend to be more spoiled today.

This only has a 1GHZ single core processor too. We tend to have phones now with quad core processors, and even some rarer 8 core processors too! That is one reason why I love using stuff like this. I hate to put it this way but it makes me feel more humble. Using older stuff makes you think about what we have differently in my opinion.

We call a lot of things slow, but for me, until you use something, like an old 50MHZ 486, it is hard to know what slow really is. When you deal with something like Android 1.6 which the IS01 runs, you need to find a different way to do things. I cannot run Dropbox on here, unless I find an old version that works on 1.6, so I have to send the files with Bluetooth or use the USB cable.

I am going to end this here before it becomes a novel. I will post more about it later. As promised, a link to my book I am writing.

https://www.fictionpress.com/s/3165267/1/Second-Chance

Got NetBSD working on W-ZERO3 WS003SH!

Got NetBSD working on W-ZERO3 WS003SH!
Keyboard works fine, some issues with touchpanel.

Pachbel's Canon in D on floppy disks

Sharp IS01

On December 13, I got another package in the mail, but this one is special. This one came from my friend, and cowriter, in Japan. Thank you to Tsubasa Kato for the Christmas gift! Right now, I am trying to get used to the keyboard layout. Since the way this is designed, there is no onscreen keyboard, so you need to use the hardware keyboard.

I am not quite sure but my best guess is that the keyboard was designed primarily for thumb use, versus putting onto a flat surface such as a desk and using your index finger. Tsubasa, leave a comment about that please. When seeing the keys, and judging by the way they feel, this is more akin to a laptop than a traditional thumb keyboard like a Treo or Blackberry would have.

This design reminds me of the Netwalker, which is also made by Sharp, so that makes sense. I will post some pictures later when I have a chance to take some.

Ingress on HTC Desire

I got Ingress working on HTC Desire today. The HTC Desire is running Android 4.2.2 .

Video to watch: Legacy of Computers, Gerry Sussman

Video to watch:
Legacy of Computers, Gerry Sussman

More new toys!

Well, yesterday I got some more toys, which I briefly mentioned. I was too concerned with getting the phone activated, and by that I mean jail broken. Problem is I didn't get the stuff until 7, because FedEx comes late for home delivery. Which means I had less time to play with the stuff.

So, after finally figuring out what files I actuality needed, I have it jail broken and thus bypassed the phone activation, which I know would be useless since it is pretty old as far as phones are concerned anymore. It did come out in 2007 after all. It does make a decent iPod though, which is what I wanted it for anyway.

So far, I didn't get the chance to play with the other stuff yet. I can say that the Slate 7 is pretty well made, compared to my Nexus 7 at least. It has Android 4.1 on it, which is kind of old now, but still very capable. I need to root it though, which means I will probably see if I can get some form of Kit Kat on it.

I am not sure if I will do a custom ROM but I have to root it at the very least! Come to think of it I have to root the DROID2 still. The one method I tried, is rooted according to Titanium Backup but nothing else, so I need to try doing a real root method instead of the app on the DROID2 itself.

The other thing I got is an Audiovox PPC6700, which goes under a few names but the most important one would be the HTC Apache, since they are the ones who made it. Early on, HTC made a lot of stuff for other companies, such as Audiovox in this case.

While I didn't play much with it, I can say the keyboard on it feels nice. It has Windows Mobile 5 on it, which shows how old it is. I was in high school when it came out in 2006 as I recall. A friend of mine bought one because she wanted it for texting. She didn't play any games or anything on it, and I don't that she knew you could even install stuff.

I will need to play with the stuff more and maybe post some reviews as well.

Some more info on the Droid 2

Well, yesterday I got two broken DROID 2 phones from a friend of mine. One has a slightly cracked screen and the other would turn on but had no image on the screen. I was given them for that reason. I figured that either I would get a new toy or something to take apart.

The one with the crack on the screen does sort of work, but often acts weird with a lot of glitches like rotating at random and saying the car dock was connected.  I am thinking that either it got wet or something is seriously messed up with that one.

So I ended up taking apart the one that had no image on the screen too see what was connected wrong. I had thought maybe it was something simple like a loose connection, and turns out that I was right!!! Simply pressing down on the screen cable connection and it is working like nothing happened!

Sadly I didn't take any pictures of when I took it apart, but they can be found online on other sites. The important thing is that I got it working, and have a new toy to play with! Expect to see more of this soon as well as a full review!

New toys!

Got these in the mail today!