Cragnet

I have purchased three phones this year already a Nokia 5800, an E63 and recently upgraded to an E75. All of them have three different from factors, features but all run symbian s60. O2 my provider had already contacted me to advise me that I could upgrade but as I was in no rush I wanted to wait. I was toying with the idea of either the E71 or N97 and bought the E63 as a halfway gap to help me decide if I would like the form factor of the E71. When I originally saw the E61 I just laughed at the size of it which was probably hypocritical of me considering I had a Nokia 9500 and E90 before. However I braved my hypocrisy and got the E63. First impressions where good where I loved the thumboard and found I can use it either one or two handed for typing. The only real let down for me was the Nokia Maps software which didn't make use of the screen real estate. Therefore I was really close on getting an E71. When NokiaExperts on Twitter got hold of an E71x with S60v3.2 So I then want

I have recently dusted off my 5800 and updated to the latest firmware over the air (ota). The download was a suprising 4 mb where when I have uswd pc suite it has downloaded over 100mb. Why the latter cannot use the small files, 4mb is better than 100mb over 3g when considering costs! The download was quick and within ten minutes the phone had rebooted, installed and retained my data. The touch seems more responsive and web works better but it still has some way to go. When browsing on some sites it takes ages to render them sometimes just as long without pictures being displayed. As I use a phone for internet this is still not acceptable so the phone will be switched off again until the next update. My e63 which cost less than the 5800 has more storage and ram and works better for web. Whilst I keep going back to the 5800 as I love the touch interface I will not get rid of the phone just yet. There are other browser such as opera mini, ucweb or bolt but these don't use the touch i

Since putting Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope)on my dell laptop there are already issues with a cpu core running at 100% due to Xorg. I followed a guide to revert back to a previous display driver from Intrepid Ibex but it did not work. To resolve the issue I found that by switching off remote desktop (vino-server) as suggested here has actually sorted it. Although I did not use 'sudo apt-get remove vino-server', I just went to 'System->Preferences-Remote Desktop' and switched off remote desktop here. Also the desktop effects would not enable so I could not use Compiz so I fixed it using this where whilst it may cause further issues, for the moment it is working and better than what it was. The issues are related to the Intel chipset where there is a more in depth explanation here. However, I will be patient and wait for the issues to be fixed now my laptop is running cooler and not peaking on a CPU core for no reason.

I have been an MS Office user since 1991 but over the past 2 years I have been using Open Office. Whilst saw Office 2007 in beta I thought whoever re-designed the interface has been on something especially to come up with the big Fisher Price Buttons. Why change it if it is not broke? After having to use Office 2007 along with Vista (I am of the same opinion here as Office 2007) for my new job I just cannot get used to the big buttons and illogical layout. It is taking ages to find things especially when I have to roll out documents quickly. I had heard of a way of bringing the old menus back so did some investigation and found this where you can download a tool to do just this. Whilst it does not completely replace the Office 2007 menus it adds another menu option called menu. On clicking on this you get the standard office 2003 menu bar and toolbars. I like this idea as it allows me to learn Office 2007 (as I need to) but have the backup of being able to use the old options. However

I hate it when I buy a new piece of hardware that has intentionally been restricted by the manufacturer or provider to control how it should be used. Nokia will only allow signed software to be installed onto their phones where a developer has to go through a convoluted process to obtain certification to allow their software to be installed. I have come across freeware that I wish to install but it needs me to get it signed beforehand. Apple lock their phones down so no background applications can run which could potentially hog the CPU and disrupt the experience when using the phone. Then you get mobile network providers that intentionally lock their phones/USB Modems to the network and charge an extortionate fee to unlock them. Thankfully both the Nokia and Apple phones can both be jailbroken to get around these restrictions although it might be deemed as illegal by each Manufacturer (just google for information). I have recently switched from a 3 mobile contract to PAYG but the m

Recently I have set up a twitter account which I have integrated into this blog and to update my facebook. In essence it simplifies things by only having to update in one place. I was originally using fring to do this but it was consuming too much ram on my 5800. I tried several java clients but did not like them so stuck with Fring. Then two new clients came on the block a bit like two buses turning up. Gravity and Twittix are both cheap under $10 where I ended up purchasing Gravity first, then trying a trial of Twittix. Gravity from Mobileways looks very professional, allows multiple twitter accounts to be added and also allows direct posting of images to twitpic or mobypicture. Twittix cannot send images but again allows multiple accounts but allows you to look at user profiles and follow people direct from searched tweets, two things gravity does not do. You can do the usual twitter actions of direct messages, reply, follow, retweet or add favourites with both applications. Tw

Well after some deliberation and the recent issues with the 5800XM I have blown the dust off my Nokia E90 (over 18 months old), reflashed it and then spent three days reinstalling it after two bundled attempts. The previous atempts failed due to the memory card where I had similar issues to my 16gb card. I had previously used the 16gb in the 5800 but it would not work and became corrupt. A similar issue happened in the E90 the first time. I then tried a 8gb card and the same issue here happened. Looking at both card they were both class 2, so I tried a class 4, 8gb card on the third attempt and everything now works. When I had the class 2, 8gb card in a N95 it slowed the response of the phone right down. So the moral is, class 2 for devices like ebook readers, cameras or mp3 machines. Class 4 for pdas or mobiles. The 16gb has gone in my camera and the 8gb in my N810 for extra storage. The E90 is like holding a shoe to your ear when making calls. However it has lots of memory, quite fa