First week with iPhone (1.1.4)

On the first night, I've already fill up the 8GB (7.1GB space) with ScreenCasts Online PodCasts, songs and photos. Not to mention that I begins to install third-parties' applications and games via Installer.

Playing iPhone for couple of days, I found that without anytime-anywhere Internet access, iPhone is nothing more than a WM/Palm PDA. In fact, its PIM is weaker than that on PDAs. iCal does nothing more than Calendar in S60 devices, for example, both lack of full support of category. Its soft-keyboard is harder to type than using stylus on WM/Palm (Graffit is the best), nor as fast as T9 on mobiles' keypad. Despite of those, its outlook are still cool. Its fully touch screen concept is great and provides more possibilities in programming. Yet, iPhone still can't worth its price (US$399) if without EDGE service. EDGE is need to unlock the mobile-Internet capability, because WiFi-access online limited to office or home, unless you live in Pacific Coffee.

iPhone is so simple and direct to use. I passed it to a girl, just to show her some photos. Without any help, she unlocked the phone, located Photo, and browsed all photos. Apple's design is great and user-friendly (unless you want all power from the device or the computer). So, iPhone doesn't come with a thick user guide or manual. However, we stil need some fixes and third-party software to make it a really cool piece of devices.

Patches for HK subscribers + JailBreak 1.1.4

Open Installer, select iClarified (might need to add source: http://installer.iclarified.com), and install AppSupport Patch(1.14) to fix the area code issues in call display (I always store phone number with area code).

The following tutorial shows how to share the EDGE connection with a laptop. I will try it some day.

http://lifehacker.com/software/feature/use-your-iphones-internet-connection-on-your-laptop-327066.php

Epson EPL-5900L on Leopard

It just NOT working! No! Not working at all. My Epson EPL-5900L is not printing.

Last year, I tried so hard just to make it work on my iMac (Ref: "Epson EPL-5900L on iMac). But after my iMac had upgraded to Leopard, it stops to work again. Every time it gives me this error:


I've tried the default printer driver which come with Leopard, tried an older one I used last time (v3.0) and a newer one from Epson's website (v4.0). After the computer sent the data to printer (it took over a minute), the green LED blinks and red LED is on. Computer shows "Unable to receive print data", "Turn off the printer and check all cable connections. Wait a few minutes, then turn on the printer and try printing again."

I connected the printer to my XP laptop. It has no problem at all. Printing is almost instantly. Sigh, I don't want to throw it away. I don't want to pay for a new one. Also, the printer can print another 6000+ pages (I still haven't finish the first 3000 page toner). What a waste!

Acer n300 WM5 (AKU3)

前面提到我從WM6又返回WM5裡，這一次安裝的不是中文版的ROM，而是英文版，目的是取得英文版的介面以及輸入法，但仍然能支援中文顯示和中文手寫輸入（我是不曉得倉頡的）。

如今已經很難從官網下載n300的英文ROM了，中文版本的話，官網卻有15、16、22、24任君選擇（這裡）。要找1.00.24 WWE的ROM，可以在下載WM6 Update(Beta)那英文頁面裡找（不是PalmIsLife那個）（或這裡下載）。找到後按平常方法刷ROM。刷好了1.00.24 WWE版後，你會發現很多字型都是粗體的，跟平常中文版看到的不一樣。以後會說明如何修正。

先按照WM6 Update(Beta)的指示，安裝中文支援（當然不安裝中文介面）並reboot。安裝了中文支援後，粗體字的數目少了，但仍存在，例如在菜單上，如果夾雜著中文使用時（例如在Calendar裡Filter by Categories時），就會顯得很格格不入。

利用免費的 ozVGA 可以輕易變走粗體字。注意，如果你不打算跑真正的VGA（因為跑真正的VGA時，有很多系統ICON會出錯或不顯現），就無需安裝96DPI的文件。我只是借它來修正一下粗體字型：start ozVGA, convert to ozVGA -> reboot -> start ozVGA, settings, clear all Bold check box -> convert to seVGA。

如果打算使用Block Recognizer，便會發現輸入時，會無端端跑出台灣的注音（Chu on），唯有每次reboot後先打開注音鍵盤並轉成英文鍵盤，再換成Block Recognizer。要解決這問題，在 http://tillanosoft.com 下載及安裝PocketTweak，這東西可以設定系統的預設輸入法和修改輸入法清單，請按個人喜好設定。

Money 2005 for Pocket PC

無可否定，WM6外觀上比WM5漂亮，系統也好像較順暢，但升級後不到一天，我又重灌n300成WM5。原因：

1. 即使WM6 IE比WM5的快，但用PPC的WLAN來上網是很無謂的，一般可用的免費Wifi不是家裡就是辦公室裡，在那種電腦多得可以左擁右抱的地方、用龜速的802.11B、眯著眼看那三寸屏幕來上網。無聊。

2. 就在我還在用那三寸屏幕上網時，n300當機了。reset無效便拔電池，跟平常n300當機時的處理方法一樣，但開機後，傳來動聽的啟動聲，即是說hard reset了，所有資料都沒了。無奈。

3. Money 2005 for PPC不能同步，跑ActiveSync時，PC上出現「reading device databases」然後呆了。

• Microsoft Official Announcement: Money for Hand Held Devices.
• 各版本的Money for PPC均不支持WM5或更新的系統，要用就用舊的PC2002或WM2003機子吧
• 各版本均只能對應當時的Money電腦版本，即是說新版本Money for PPC將不會和舊版本的Money同步
• MS不打算推出修正版
  
• MS不打算推出Money 2007 for PPC
• MS建議用家額外購買UltraMoney (USD$30)

由於我用Money 2005來管理所有財政，我需要PPC跟它同步，於是我試用了UltraMoney。它的功能的確比Money for PPC更強，但不支援中文，感覺又太陌生，而且還要額外花錢，太昂貴了。最令人氣憤是 “Microsoft Products does not support Microsoft Products”（某forum討論這事時，某人寫的），我可是真金白銀買Money 2005，然後打算用它十年八載的。

換WM6目的只是解決WLAN無法上網的情況，後來証實了，即使是WM6也無法成功連上家裡的Belkin Router，最多只可以借助iMac騰空了的AirPort來上網，而且升級迫使我另外花錢來補償本來運作良好的Money for PPC，有點說不通吧？雖說Money for PPC不支援WM5機子，但我過去兩年一直在用也沒有問題，所以我又決定返回WM5再試試看。畢竟，在PPC上用Money比上網更重要。

以下是證實可以使用的組合：

Acer n300 WM5 ver 1.00.16 CHT / ver 1.00.24 WWE + Chinese support
Money 2005 for Pocket PC (install to C:\)
Windows XP Pro SP2 (EN)
ActiveSync v4.5 Build 5059 (Beta)
Money 2005 for Windows

Garage Sale

剛入手了一台LaCie 500GB FW+USB HD，作為Mac機的備份，所以原有的三台250GB硬盤便開始「雞肋化」。趁它們未完全變成雞肋之前，是時候變賣以彌補傾家盪產購入LaCie的損失。

Western Digital 250GB (3.5", ATA100, 2MB Cache) HK$250+ SOLD
Maxtor 250GB (3.5", ATA133, 8MB Cache) HK$250+ SOLD
Buffalo LinkStation 250GB HK$400+ SOLD

還有一台 Buffalo LinkStation 250GB，當我完成資料備份之後，亦都會放賣，因為它的系統和Mac不太夾，處理中文檔名總是問題多多，但LinkStation的功能比USB Drive更強大，賣貴一點也是無可厚非的。

以三台250換一台500，應該是除笨有精的，尤其是對應了這兩年的方針：簡化管理。只是那台500因為給MAC做備份，必需format成Mac OS Extended格式，只可以在MAC上跑了，不可以用在XP上。

By the way, why should we have a backup drive? Watch this video and learn about the importance of backup, from LiveVault site: www.backuptrauma.com/video/default2.aspx.

Double Backup

打從換MAC開始，就決定要減少硬盤、電腦的數目，尤其是使用過虛擬電腦後，更加認同只要一台電腦就足夠了；若需要Windows系統的話，就在MAC裡虛擬出來吧。故此，訂購這台iMac時已經補錢升級硬盤至500GB（當時主流還是160GB或少量250GB吧）。

礙於我還初次接觸Mac OS，在資料轉移方面還是花了很長的時間，大概、一年有多了吧。其實是沒有那個閑去弄。其間把一大堆files周圍移動，而舊的P4電腦裡那250GB硬盤又要封存，即使還有一台250GB USB硬盤和一台250GB LAN硬盤，其實可用的空間還不是很多（就是嘛，明明加起多有1.25TB的，還是有點足襟見肘）。

趁著假期，終於把大部份的檔案都移到iMac裡，把P4的硬盤也改成USB硬盤之後，兩台USB硬盤都拿來做備份，一台跑iBackup，另一台跑Time Machine。其實會否有點過火呢？有點怕死的感覺。

PSP + Belkin N Wireless Router

Two months ago, I purchased a Belkin N Wireless Router (F5D8233-4), after my second Linksys router (WRT54G) stop working properly. Belkin's life-time warranty won over the single year warranty Linksys offers. That's why I switched to Belkin when both my previous routers died in their third year.

The router and its settings look great for a-little-bit-serious users. May be advanced users would prefer Linksys, which they can flash it with hacked firmware. I just want stable and ease to use. The settings page look great but help was not enough (still better than Linksys' help page). Setup is no difficulties. I've connected my IBM T42, iMac and PS3 over Wi-Fi. My friends' laptop also on the MAC address filter list too (yes, on top of the WPA, MAC filter is another good way to protect the network). My PDA and PSP, however, are not able to connect. Both of them are 802.11b. My PSP can't even discover the router, even it is just 2 feet away.

Before I'm about to flash the N Wireless Router to latest firmware (v1.00.10), I gave a last shot. Following are my original wireless settings (firmware 1.00.07):

Wireless Channel = 6
Extension Channel = 2
Wireless Mode = 802.11b&802.11g&802.11n
Bandwidth = 20MHz/40MHz
Broadcast SSID = Yes
Protected Mode = ON
802.11e/WMM Qos = ON

By try-and-error, I found a working wireless settings:

Wireless Channel = 6
Extension Channel = disabled
Wireless Mode = 802.11b&802.11g&802.11n
Bandwidth = 20MHz
Broadcast SSID = Yes
Protected Mode = ON
802.11e/WMM Qos = OFF

Although my PSP is slow, it is now connected to Internet. I should try my PDA later.

XP outperforms Vista

半年前寫下《手提電腦的禁買期》和《 XP vs. Vista》，至今用XP還是比用Vista要爽。最近看到一篇比較兩者的文章：《Windows XP Significantly Outperforms Vista, Tests Show》，又一再力證XP比Vista好。到底事實是否如此？真的如文章所說：

"Windows XP trounced Windows Vista in all tests -- regardless of the versions used or the amount of memory running on the computer. In fact, XP proved to be roughly twice as fast as Vista in most of the tests."

當年初初推出XP時（大約2000-2001年），而我的電腦購入於2000年春，用上當時最快的CPU：Pentium III 600MHz，拿來跑XP其實有點兒慢，如今我用來跑XP很爽的是一台小黑，是Centrino 1.7G（效能約莫等於Pentium 4 3.4GHz）。Vista推出時高階的CPU是Core2Duo 2GHz，前後對比，那即是說，只要Core2Duo再多出兩代、內頻提升至3.8GHz以上而L2 Cache有16MB左右時，跑Vista應該會暢順了吧！？只是若要用上這種速度／價錢來跑XP，效能應該會似火箭吧。

無獨有偶，Apple最近終於推出了Leopard，我由Tiger升級到Leopard，沒有performance的損失，因為我用兩者時都不覺得系統特別地快，但最少不會令用家呼叫要求downgrade回水。

Apple的新廣告又串Microsoft："Ask not what Vista can do for you, but what you can do for Vista"，真抵死。

Intel Core 2 Duo 2.16 GHz w/ 4 MB L2 Cache
2GB DDR-2 667 MHz memory
ATI Radeon X1600 128MB VRAM
同一個configure，跑什麼好？

- Vista? 勉強吧，多開幾個程序就死掉，而且又分幾廿款版本，騙錢的東西
- XP Pro? 沒錯，應該有點「快到曉飛」，但隨便一台Centrino 1.8G以上的電腦已綽綽有餘

最好嘛，還用說：Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard啦！

（會有人踩場說Ubunto或者Linux嗎？）

DVI KVMP Switch

IOGEAR GCS1764 - 4-Port DVI KVMP Switch USB Console, USB Peripherals, Audio
官方網站索價US$350，但某些販賣網站標價一百六十餘元（折合約一千三百港元），與市面一般的VGA KVM比較，這價錢尚算合理（如果考慮擺放空間和操作）至偏高（若只考慮功能），因為它除了是DVI KVM外（註一），也可以分流audio和USB設備（如scanner和printer）。

可以把GCS1764當作為三個分流器合一的產品：KVM Switch、Audio和Switch USB Switch，因為使用鍵盤來控制時，各switch可獨立操作，能隨意調動KVM、audio或USB至不同的port位而互不影響；使用面板上的按鈕可簡易地只調動KVM或調動全組設備至下一個port。詳細的操作，可參閱官方的說明書。

理想中的設定：

Share: 20" LCD (DVI-D), USB KB MS, 2.1 speaker, printer
Port 1: iMac
Port 2: PS3
Port 3: TV Box (VGA->DVI-I)
Port 4: notebook/old PC

問題：往哪兒買呢？

註一：KVM是Keyboard Video Mouse的縮寫，指多台電腦共用一套KVM。

Better, if not the Best

八月中旬，在３專門店買了一部諾基亞6120手提電話，機價一千三百，以當時來說可謂最平的S60 3.1電話，應該令人很高興吧。可是，最令我不爽的是背面的外殼和電池蓋並不level，接口處左右一高一低，經我自行「修正」後，右面算是修復了，但左面依然是高低差0.5MM。沒錯，這0.5MM令我很不爽，電話的手感很重要！而且上一次買E50時落order要黑色來了白色已經很不爽，這一次又出問題，更是不爽（乘二）。

今日見到友人新買的6120，他的也有這個高低差的問題，只是沒我那個嚴重，但他的手機無論正面還是背面，甚至裡面（系統）都是著３的徽號，而我的雖也是從３專門店買，但卻和普通行貨沒兩樣，而且他的手機沒有Bloxx這個遊戲。噢！買桔。原來，我的6120也不算是很差，至少，它沒有人人討厭的operator logos。

但，我還是很想拿去維修，因為公司裡的prototype都沒有這個問題耶！

Buffalo DriveStation broke down

My Buffalo DriveStation (HD-HB250U2) was not working. My iMac did not recognize it nor show anything on the hardware list. My Buffalo LinkStation could recognize a USB drive but could not show the details of it. I said to myself, may be I need to buy a replacement because the DriveStation is the primary backup of my iMac. And it was close to full capacity. Therefore, a replacement has to have 400 or 500 GB, which cost HK$1400.

But I need to figure out which part is broken, whether the hard disk is broken or the main board of the USB drive. I borrowed a USB-to-IDE cable from office, remove the hard disk from the DriveStation iron frame. The hard disk is a Western Digital one (WD2500BB, 250 GB, ATA-100, 2 MB cache). If the WD failed, I may purchase another ATA HD, instead of buying another DriveStation.

The WD start up noise seems very okay. But it still not recognized by iMac. I changed the jumper settings from "Master alone" to "Master with Slave present" and try again. After a while, it appears on the desktop. All content were there and looked just fine. So, the WD is okay. I undo the jumper settings and try the DriveStation again. Nothing happens. I changed the jumper to "Master with Slave present" and try again. It took a while but finally appears on my Mac.

Isn't that strange?

p.s. seems that Buffalo's quality was... sigh (see user reviews)

PCP

Recently I've been addicting into an PSP game - Daisenryaku Portable 2. It's the 26th release of the series. Besides PSP version, I also get me two copies for Windows. But I don't have time to play PC games. I just had a thought, if PC can be operate like PSP, PC Portable...

Oh... that's Sony's VAIO UX ($13980).

Nothing much. Just a piece of a-little-bit-more-expensive toy, equvilant to ten PSP's, three PS3's, two N95's, one iMac or one MacBook Pro...

手提電腦的禁買期

最近公司入手了一部Thinkpad T60，索價萬四，Core2Duo 1.66G, 512MB, 100GB SATA, BT, Fingerprint, Multi-burner, 以及 Vista Business!　嘩，慢到媽都唔認得。雖然說512MB係唔夠用，但跟據Task Manager的數據，其時使用記憶只是三四百，應該不構成記憶不足問題。但Vista勁load個硬盤，似乎連SATA都唔夠快。唉，如果同一部機運行ＸＰ的話，多好呢。

2007年將會是一年禁止買Vista手提電腦的一年，直至Core2Duo 2.5G和一條1GB RAM成為standard configure，而且要買比這個更快的CPU和最好有2GB以上的記憶體。

如果這種電腦用來行2000或XP，多好呢。快過火箭耶！

Naming My Devices (2)

As previously posted, I use animal species as name of my hardware. My Nokia N70 is called Phoenix, after replacing mainboard. My virutal XP on Mac is called Kestrel (a type of small falcon). And for virtual Ubuntu, it will be called Shoveler. I might change the name of iMac to Egret (and reserved the name "Heron" for my Mac Book Pro... if I have one).

So, there are falcon, dolphin, penguin, hawk, egret, phoenix, kestrel and shoveler all on my desk.

Speed on Bluetooth

A mini-stat I found recently, the lower bound of Bluetooth is 24KBps, and its upper bound is 78KBps. Can it be anything faster?

New laptop? Don't be silly, don't be sor.

I always keep an eye at the "Lenovo China (Hong Kong S.A.R.) - Special offers - ThinkPad" website. Newer laptops with faster CPU and better configure, and lower price than my T42. Sigh... but my T42 has been serving me and helping me for a year and half already. The only issues it suffer are the small harddisk (40 GB harddisk = 36 GB after format, and 3 GB goes to a recovery drive, only around 27 GB is usable by me) and lack of Bluetooth connectivity. Of course, it would be great to have a build-in card reader but this can be solved easily. At least a card reader does not create trouble as if the Belkin Bluetooth doogle, or should I say the Bluetooth software?

Anyway chance to replace? Always feel sorry to my T42 if I replaced it by T60. But, upgrade possible? PCMCIA Bluetooth? PCMCIA SD card reader? Will T42 run better after upgrade? The first problem come up in my mind is the stability and the second the power consume when on DC.

Well...

Naming My Devices

In computer world, every device can have a name for identification. Naming them one by one has been a headache to me. Most of the time I just use their model number. Sometime will added my name with it. But sometime I would give them a better name.

falcon - the second desktop built by me. This name was first used in a file server from the first company I worked for. Furthermore, I was using falconer somewhere for something before, which I had now forgot. A funny thing about this computer is that, I picked the slowest P4 CPU available in the market, rather than a fastest one.

dolphin - Buffalo LinkStation is a 250GB LAN disk I bought for backup purpose. I tried to pick names of animal species, to match with falcon. "D" for data and "D" for dolphin.

swallow - I borrowed Sunny's CPU-onboard computer for some time (now returned). This computer won't start up if installed memory is over 64 MB RAM.

Penguin - for my white and black Nokia E50.

Hawk - during reinstalling the Bluetooth software on my second laptop, IBM ThinkPad T42, I gave it a new name. This comes from black hawk (in Chinese) as T42 has black body.


I want to rename my white iMac and black Nokia N70 if possible, but don't have any good names to represent them. iMac is white...... may be... polarbear? And Owl for the black N70?

賣得就賣，廢物無價

痴呆XP促成的「Mac X政變」加上屋企準備裝潢，引發出「IBM兼容PC減持計劃」。很無奈地，我就是擁有五部PC和兩部PPC，還有五部Game Consoles，還有毛公仔、模型......反正就是很多。

計劃第一步進展順利，收鑊比預期高：放賣三隻硬盤，打算賣個七百六，結果賣了八百八。第二步是決定第四隻(WD80GB)的去留，並歸還借來的電腦（減持至4部）。之後要處理部經典PC：十多年的486。這是部極級486 (DX2-66MHz/64MB RAM/2MB VRAM/800+400MB HDD/10Mb LAN)，不論RAM還是VRAM，HDD還是Network，都是486時代的終極形態，若以當年市值算，或許非花三萬元不可。時移世易，今時今日它是沒啥用處；除非用來玩十年前的遊戲。Last but not least，剩餘的零件電線，還有flatbed scanner和color printer。實在是太多了，可惜它們又不是古玩，否則隨便找個收藏家送過去便成了。

近日瀏覽拍賣網，發現真的原來什麼東西也可以賣，就連砌過的模型都可以（當作parts賤賣）。讀書時大花筒，掃了好幾盒MG(Master Grade)級的高達模型，砌來砌去，還有幾盒未開。以前吉之島賣一百八，家下都賣二百六了，那豈不是升值了？以市價八折賣，大概都可以賣二百，陳年模型不跌反升，這個世界是瘋了嗎？既然如此，我想賣兩條磨穿了的牛仔褲，磨穿了不是很有型麼？有型就有價......對吧？

有時想，活在物質主義的社會，一個人擁有（買入）的東西還真多呢。靈魂一走，除了留下筆保險金，還留下一堆個人垃圾。

抗衡熱力

自從房裡電腦患上奇怪的痴呆症，加上老父為了區區五百個大餅的電費單嘈到拆天之後，連續好幾晚都睡前關了電腦，冷氣也沒開。自從電風扇嘈音之失眠夜之後，我又再次開著冷氣睡。今早在某手機商office等運到時，他們動作還真慢，這不是重點，而且升級變降級，算，這也不是重點。我覺得自己似乎作感冒，奇怪是冷氣Settings依舊，為何作感冒？或者少了部電腦這個heat source，房就凍了。
今日沒空打開部痴呆電腦，因為一晚內要看四套電視劇和遊戲7788，洗完碗還在走廊練blades，該沒多餘時間了吧，除非一小時能當兩小時用，這…有可能嗎？但最後還是用ＰＤＡ扒在床上看電郵上網，覆了兩個拍賣問題和寫這篇東東。
我發現原來我還挻空閒，又或者這叫無聊。(on mobile)

Buffalo LAN Disk

今日晏收工，所以回家就唔再OT了。終於有時間SETUP 兩部BUFFALO了。原來條LAN線拉直都夠長，唔駛搵另一條。只是有點似架空電纜，在PRINTER上空飛過。睇晒Ｄ說明書，SETUP好，開始BACKUP。第一樣BACKUP當然係Ｄ相啦。大學Ｄ功課筆記都用CDR BACKUP好，但經常影相，很難經常BACKUP。一部畢化佬做NAS，另一部去BACKUP前者。雙重保險。