jastram.de Blog - Hardware

My favorite Android G1 apps

micky@alum.mit.edu (Michael Jastram) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:18:04 -0400

OI File Manager for file browsing
AppManager to install apps outside the market place
PDF Viewer - not optimal as it renders externally, but better than nothing
Toggle Settings - most important app! Allows quick turning on and off of power consuming services
Battery Widget - shows the precise charge of the battery
Meridian Player - pretty good audio and video player
Steel - webbrowser, I like it better than the default browser
Notepad with Sync - allows the synchronization of notes with Helipad
Tetherbot - allows tethering of a laptop for web access. Works only with cable and requires root access on the phone.
ConnectBot - SSH Client
Metal Detector - amazingly, it really works
Google Sky Map - cool, but useless in a city
Doom for Android - because we can
TED - Browser and Viewer for TED-Talks
Terminal Emulator - Command Line
The Weather Channel - in my opinion the best weather app - allerdings it only supports °F, not °C.

Vodafone UMTS with Ubuntu 8.04 and Thinkpad T61

micky@alum.mit.edu (Michael Jastram) — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:07:11 -0400

The Thinkpad T61has a nifty SIM-Slot behind the battery compartment. Considering that I travel a lot (and that I have a Vodafone UMTS-Card), I figured out how to make it work.
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VoIP with Sipura, Sipgate and Netgear Router

micky@alum.mit.edu (Michael Jastram) — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 10:06:24 -0500

A year ago, I gave Voice over IP a try - and gave up on it. Not because it didn't work, but because it was not reliable enough. In 90% of all cases it was working fine, but the remining 10% had bad quality, a missing voice channel, etc. That was unacceptable quality.

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Creating a free public Hotspot

micky@alum.mit.edu (Michael Jastram) — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 19:04:51 -0500

My wife runs a Coffee House with free Internet Access. Until now, we just had a compleatly open Wifi Router. This was great for the customers, but she worried about her liability. So I had the task to create a solution with the following requirements:

Users must acknowledge terms and conditions
Easy to use
Collection of information (MAC address, email, etc.), although this was an optonal requirement.

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No more Caps Lock!!!

micky@alum.mit.edu (Michael Jastram) — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 14:21:49 -0400

There was a Google Group mentioned to get rid of the CAPS LOCK key - weird, but I'd support it (he has a blog, too). There are plenty of web sites about it.

Nokia & Bluetooth Compatibility

micky@alum.mit.edu (Michael Jastram) — Sat, 07 Jan 2006 22:06:10 -0500

So I got a phone from work, a Nokia 6021. I specifically asked for one with Bluetooth, which I got. But it doesn't play nice with my Tungsten T. I can couple the devices, but I can't dial from my Tungsten (the operation just times out).

Isn't there supposed to be universal compatibility with stuff like that? I am quite annoyed. I sent a message to Vodafone and Nokia. If they don't solve this problem, I'll just return the phone and get a cheap 6310i from eBay - that phone works flawlessly with my Tungsten.