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This week, my GoPass GPT800 Bluetooth GPS Receiver SiRF Star III from Amazon arrived. The plan was to pair this with my N800 (already paired). It was charged overnight and ready for use today. I didn’t get outside much, but it was able to lock onto 8 satellites even while in my den. Impressive for $35.

In the box:

1. Bluetooth GPS Receiver (about 1″×1.5″×0.4″ in size)
2. Li-Ion Battery
3. Car cigarette power adapter
4. USB travel power adapter
5. Mini-USB to USB charging cable
6. Software CD – I didn’t need this at all;
   • it contains the installation manual for WinME, etc. with some of the most impressive Engrish that I’ve ever seen.
7. Quick start pamphlet with the bluetooth code
8. (2) lanyards for the device (light/dark)

Walking around the house, it showed altitude, direction and speed. The numbers seemed reasonable. Even when not moving, just turning it changed the direction output.

I can’t wait to go hiking and geocaching or even get lost in rural South Carolina like a few weeks ago. Even if I don’t have the correct map, at least I’ll know where I am and hopefully have a POI nearby. I’m guessing that I’ll be able to place this in a backpack and it will still receive and BT connect to the N800.

Ok, so it works with the defacto GPS software on the N800 – Maemo-Mapper.
I pulled gpsbabel-1.3.3.zip off Freshmeat.net to convert from/to whatever format is needed for POI files.
I mirrored a huge number of POI files that I found through google. No registration needed. It appears I need to convert the POIs that I want into GPX format, move those files to the N800 and run a script to load them into the poi.db that Maemo-Mapper uses. It can’t be that challenging.

Yesterday, a Comcast tech spent almost 3 hours at my home. Primarily, he installed their VoIP device onto my coax network. Along the way, he fixed a few other things …

My wants:

1. Phone service
2. On-Demand to work (stopped working a few months ago)

What the tech did:

1. Found and corrected a nick in the main coax to the street (nick was on the street side, not my house side).
2. Added an amplifier to the coax network
3. installed a SIP ATA/UPS in my breakfast room (my request)
4. replaced a 10 year old cable to the digital cable box – he called it “blow back” on 1 end of it. That didn’t fix my on-demand.
5. replaced a coax splitter on the HDTV
6. Swapped out my old bundle for a new bundle – goodbye Dexter, hello Entourage.
7. He didn’t have an HD cable box in the truck, so he said I needed a new one.
8. All of us are on hold with the VOIP Install Team – 30 minutes! They finally answer and ask 5 trivial questions. This call was made using my new phone service.
   Cost $0, besides the $39 install of the phone service.

1. I log in to my old SIP service and forward all calls to the new temp Comcast number. Test. Working.
2. Log in to GC and remove the old number and add the new number to my global phone service. Test. Working.
3. Unplug my phone system from my ATA and plug into the house wiring. All phones are working.
   The voice quality is as good or better than BellSouth ever was. $19.95/month with unlimited local and long distance. Since I did a bundle (internet, digital cable, phone, hbo/starz) the monthly price is fixed for 1 year. It should be $130/month. That is what I was paying without hbo/phone, but I had Showtime. So, for the same price, I get phone. I’ll miss shotime, but not that much. Of course, they tried to get me to get it all for $158/month – all channels – sports, HBO, SHO, MAX, TMC, STARZ, IFC, etc. everything. Perhaps after I get some income, who knows.

This morning, I:

1. took the old HD cable box to the local Comcast and swapped it out. New box has firewire output too.
2. Plugged everything back in … fixed the connections … HBO isn’t working – except on-demand. It works now. Reboot. Wait … HBO channels not working.
3. Called Comcast … they answered quickly and immediately turned on the HBO and other services that weren’t working. Good.
4. In need to figure out how to connect my laptop to the firewire port and record unencrypted QAM shows in HiDef.
   Cost $0.

While I had them on the phone, I complained that my internet speed didn’t test out anywhere near the advertised speed 8M/384K – I get 2M/180K. Transferred to the internet department … he looked at my devices and didn’t see any issues over the last 2 months except the occasional reboot. No errors. Time to schedule a tech. Monday.

Since last Friday (7/10/08), I’ve been experiencing problems with my paid VIOP service, voipgo.com. Goodbye voipgo.com

What problems?

1. Inbound calls don’t ring all the time. If I reboot the ATA and it registers, the phone will ring. 10 minutes later and calls are sent directly to voicemail.
2. Oubound calls don’t go out. I get a busy signal – even to my cell phone number.
3. VMS calls just get a “beep” like NASA uses or eventually a busy signal.
4. Online chat support is never answered – it didn’t show as working for a few days
5. The online chat initial connection appears to be non-English. Hacked?
6. VMS website login was working earlier in the week – not anymore.
7. Someone installed the wrong certificate on the myvoipgo.com website. They’re using the plain voipgo.com cert from Go Daddy.
8. My internet is working perfectly. And has during all this testing. I’ve told my ATA about my new IP address since a power outage last week.
9. Neither the Softphone nor the ATA aren’t working. I’ve double checked that g.729 is the preferred codec as my account is setup. It will fallback to g.711u/a or GSM.
10. Yes, I can ping my defined SIP server AND Yes, the registration comes back as completed.

This setup worked when I left on vacation at the beginning of July. Nothing has changed.

This is the last time I’ll deal with phone issues. Comcast Voice will be installed later today and this is goodbye to VOIP from any small player. I can’t tell if it is there fault or perhaps Comcast is doing something to block SIP – I don’t know. I do know that I need phone service at the house.

Today, we make a list of important items to take with us should we need to leave home quickly for 3 days.

What’s Your Backup Plan?

Over the next few days and weeks, we’ll try to discuss what you need to plan in advance and what to take with you when a disaster occurs in your part of the world.

• Part 1-the scenario
• Part 2-Preparation is Key
• Part 3-System Backups

Don’t think disaster will happen? These people had now way to know their data center was going down.

About the author:
I’ve worked for a large telecom company designing computer and network systems that keep working after a disaster occurs. Those plans are tested twice a year – most of the time the first test doesn’t completely work, but you learn and make corrections. Over the years, you get better and better at it and learn that having the exact software stack isn’t all you need – sometimes the hardware is 1-of-a-kind too. Or the software assumed EXACT IP addresses and won’t work anywhere else or if an interfacing system isn’t at a particular IP address.
Don’t forget that all the normal people that run the computers and network are gone. They’ve been evacuated elsewhere and you need to plan for their extended absence. Not1 or 2 people, but hundreds of your critical support people. They don’t have cell phones.

Ok, so your life isn’t this complex. Neither is it as simple as jumping you and the family into the minivan and driving away. Be Prepared.

This region free hack was successfully applied to my Philips DVP3982

1. Turn on the unit
2. Open the loading tray
3. Press the "Setup" button on the remote
4. Navigate to the "Preferences" page using the right arrow key
5. Enter 138931
6. You will now see the current region code displayed
7. Use the Up/Down arrow keys to select the region required or "0" for all regions
8. Press the "Play" button on the remote

That’s it.

BTW, I wouldn’t buy this player again. Why?

• DSP chipset sucks. philips uses MediaTek something according to VideoHelp.com – eh. Never again.
• It doesn’t play any HD content – at least not with Component Video connections (RGB), so anything over DVD (720p) won’t be played. This is bothersome for x264 and other non-MPEG content. Perhaps HDMI connections will playback – I don’t know.
• No go to this time function. What’s the big deal? Well, if you have non-DVD content and want to get to 45:00 into it, you have to fast forward. Even at 32x speed, it takes awhile.
• Limited scaling. There are preset scales – 1/2, 1/4, 1:1, 2x, 4x, etc… My 8 year old Norcent (Mecotek) with SigmaDesign chipset let me scale horizontal and/or vertical in extremely small steps. That infinite scaling worked to easily correct source aspect ratios too. Too bad this Divx player doesn’t.
• Remote sucks. Pushing any buttons on it takes a few seconds before anything happens. My Home Theater Master universal remote can’t learn the functions either.
• The box and the sticker on the player claims DivxUltra certification, but Divx.com doesn’t say anything.
• No long filename support – when you’re viewing JPG DVDs from travels and the first 15 characters of filenames are close, long filenames are critical. Idiots.
• No Toslink optical audio out!!! Seriously? Good thing I have an open RCA digital audio out left on my THX receiver.
• Playback of some newer xvid encodes stutter. I’m seeing this on other newer devices, but not on computers or my 5 yr old MediaGate. I’m guessing the playback buffer defaults have changed (smaller) with firmware updates.

It isn’t all bad. When it does work with your content, it looks beautiful. The up scaling of TV resolutions is nice. If you are primarily a DVD watcher, this isn’t a bad player to get. The sound is good – 5.1 is nice. It does have HDMI out among other outputs. I used the component out and RCA digital for Dolby5.1 for over a year, but have recently changed to HDMI with a new TV.

Here’s the manual from Philips site.

Technology and Travel – what is the minimal ultralight, ultraportable computing solution? There are many ways to accomplish a lightweight technology pack, this is simply mine. It has been tested in travels to Hong Kong, Costa Rica (city and cloud forest), Buenos Aires and Iguazu Falls, Argentina, then for a road trip in the eastern USA. We aren’t talking overnight trips, these where 2 week trips each, so this setup is proven.

In General, you want these items

1. Cell phone – GSM with a replaceable SIM card, data plan
2. Portable camera – be certain the memory is compatible with other devices and have a charged, extra, battery
3. Portable computer – I use a Nokia N800
   1. encrypted personal files; encryption software with plausible deniability
   2. Skype
   3. email
   4. web browser
   5. any specialized software you need
4. Portable keyboard – if not built in
5. MP3/Video player
6. GPS or other Mapping device + a simple compass
7. Method to connect the computer, camera, keyboard, MP3 player and to the Internet
   • Bluetooth
   • Cables
   • WiFi Travel Router
8. Chargers – use USB when possible and have the widest voltage, current, wattage support. 100V-240V and 50Hz-60Hz; basically, it is just a plug compatibility issue and no transformer is needed
9. Power plug converters for the locale
10. Sound isolation headphones
11. USB thumb drive with encrypted files
    1. Passport images
    2. Personal contact list(s) Family, Work, Friends (also carry a paper version)

My specifics

1. Cheapo Motorola V195 w/ Bluetooth and data. If I lose this, it doesn’t really matter.
2. SONY DSC-55W camera w/ USB connector cable and USB—>miniUSB converter (my next camera will use SDHC memory)
3. Nokia N800 Internet Tablet (PDA sized Linux computer)
4. iGo Bluetooth Keyboard (N800 doesn’t include a usable keyboard)
5. Zen Vision:M MP3/MP4 player (not needed since the N800 can do this easily)
6. Mapping software is built into the N800 (Maemo Mapper)
7. Bluetooth GPS Reciever (tether to N800 or just get the N810)
8. Compass is on my whistle/flashlight/mirror/magnifying glass device
9. SONY has a proprietary charger for their camera battery, but the camera takes 300+ photos between charges. That’s usually a few days for most people. For me, that’s 1 day at most. Charged, extra battery. 2×4GB memory cards. 4GB is a 2 week trip of photos for me. Throw in the other 4GB for 30 second videos.
10. USB charger – Cellphone, MP3 player share.
11. Nokia N800 has a proprietary charger, but has long battery life with nominal use – 2+ days.
12. US$6 power plug kit (cheapo)
13. D-Link Travel WiFi Router
14. Sure e2c headphones

Test it all BEFORE you leave AND make a written packing checklist

Go to a friends home with this stuff and take a photo, transfer it to the computer, upload it to your server back home. Next, write a blog entry. Did it all work?

There’s nothing worse than getting to a location and finding out that you can’t transfer videos because you don’t have a cable or connector or way to connect to the internet. The N800 only supports WiFi or Bluetooth network connections, not an RJ45 cable. Some hotels don’t have wifi yet, but do have wired Internet connections. I’d be SOL in that case.

Honestly, if it weren’t for Maemo-Mapper, we’d all be better served by an Asus Eee overall. But when you take the mobile part of this solution into account, it is hard to beat it. Yes, the Sony camera complicates things more than necessary, but that camera has HUGE battery life that is doubtful to be matched by other portable cameras.

I’ve found this pack of technology to be the best trade off in weight, functionality, access, and convenience. Today, I might change out the N800 for an N810 that includes a built-in keyboard and a GPS device, but it also removes the external SD memory card slot that will be critical for my next camera.

What does your travel technology pack look like?

Want to know more? Here’s a better description of what is possible with the N800. You don’t need the N95 at all. Simply pair your N800 with any bluetooth phone with a data plan.

This boonex community software looks amazing. The big complaints are it is setup out of the box for dating sites, not simple communities. My problem with it is php. Many PHP programs are very insecure.

4.0 out of 5 stars Great snapshot camera, February 18, 2008

I bought this camera for an international trip. It worked as expected.

Things I loved:

• Video mode for capturing sound and the "feel" of a place
• ISO 1000 non-flash mode
• EXIF data included in JPG files
• Fantastic battery life – I took 300+ photos daily and the battery barely dropped below 90% capacity (recharge nightly for heavy use days)
• Form factor
• Automatic focus works almost every time
• easy zoom switch

Changes I’d change:

• Stiffer "mode wheel" – it was changed easily when putting the camera in my pocket
• higher ISO modes – 1000 wasn’t high enough to capture the night Chinese New Years parade in Kowloon China. I have lots of blurry images. ISO-3200 would have been nice at night.
• include a mode that prevents digital zoom – limit it to optical zoom capabilities
• motorized lens cover and zoom; seems this will be the first thing to break
• Menu isn’t intuitive to me
• Add a quick resolution change mode for 7, 5, 3 MegaPixel resolutions. By default, I use 3, but for fine art, I’d like to change to 7 without diving into the full menu system.
• ‘’Memory should be SD, not Sony memory stick’’
  - ‘’Plug for transfers should be USB, not proprietary’’
  - ‘’Battery charger should be over USB, not external or proprietary’’
  - ‘’higher optical zoom’’ 3x isn’t quite enough.

My next camera will:
a) avoid the Sony memory stick-based cameras and go with a SD, Mini/MicroSD based solution for compatibility with my other portable devices (Nokia N800 Portable Internet Tablet) and built-in laptop ports.
b) support higher ISO modes for better night time pictures without flash
c) USB for charging and file transfers
d) more than 3x optical zoom.

Let’s see. What did this N800 cost me?

So far:
table{border:1px solid black}.
| Desc | Cost |
| N800|>. $231.56|
| Blue tooth Keyboard|>. $34.99|
| 8GB MicroSD|>.$100.66|
| 2GB MicroSD|>.$58.29|
| Screen Protectors|>.$13.83|
| Portable WiFi Router|>.$52.13|
|Total |>.$491.46 |

Well, perhaps an Asus Eee would have been more cost effective at $299 for the 2GB model and $399 for the 4GB model? I’d have much less to carry around with me traveling, but for day trips, the N800 is clearly the better form factor for mapping and battery life.