Archive for the computers category

Got a file manager on my Pepper…

I finally got a decent file manager app running on my Pepper the other day. It’s emelFM, a pretty slick GTK1 file manager. The latest version compiles with the GTK1 RPMs I’ve made, though there are a few bugs in the internationalization files that gettext chokes on that I had to fix. I’ll be working […]

Pepper Pad beats Nokia 770 in review at Mobile Tech Review

Mobile Tech Review has posted a very very nice review of the Pepper Pad. They give it 4 stars out of five, while the lackluster Nokia 770 gets 3.5 stars.

Guess what? The router is crap.

So apparently, the Linksys BEFSR81 router that I scored isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Two major drawbacks are going to force me to get rid of it, possibly with extreme prejudice: The QoS features of this router are useless. You can do port-based QoS, but that only deals with transfers WITHIN THE LAN. […]

Home networking is done.

Well it seems like Bell finally transfered my number over to Vonage today. I noticed because the Vonage phone was ringing more than it ever has, and there’s suddenly no voltage on the Bell line 😛 If you’re an incredible geek or just interested, this is what my home network/phone wiring looks like now.

Home network re-wire project

I drew four network diagrams before finally figuring out how I was going to hook things up at home. I really wanted something to provide QoS to the VoIP phone adapter, and ended up borrowing a Linksys wired router (BEFSR81) that does port-based QoS. Doing QoS in Linux is really, really scary, and I wasn’t […]

Collecting more information about my security system

I’ve amassed a whole lot of information about my security system over the last few days. I’m starting to feel better and better about switching to VoIP and ensuring that my system will be able to communicate. First off. my “ADT Focus 32” system is really a close of the DSC Power832, which is very […]

Getting rid of Bell: still a head-spinning exercise

The debate at home about going VoIP with Vonage for our main phone line heated back up at home yesterday. It’s something we’ve been thinking about for months, and according to our calculations we’d save $40 a month – but it has two main impediments: We use DSL for our internet connection and are not […]

Software upgrade “shot in the arm” for Pepper coming soon…

More info about the Pepper’s software update is around, and it’s oh so tasty. It’s also been officially announced – more coverage on Engadget. The applications page on pepper.com has been updated with the three major application enhancemnets coming in Pepper Keeper 2.1: MobiPocket Reader: looks like Pepper hooked up with MobiPocket for an e-book […]

Holidays Redux, and adventures in chipping

It’s 2006 and I’m still writing Newton software. I whipped up a quick and pretty durn effective solution to get important yearly dates and holidays onto your Newton – convert Apple iCal public calendars to Newton packages. I call it Holidays Redux. In other news, it was like Christmas II at the office yesterday – […]

How’s the Pepper going? Great, thanks.

Thought I’d write some more about my Pepper Pad, especially since more and more people are writing about its competition, the Nokia 770. I’ve been using the Pad for quite a few months and am enjoying it for the most part. It’s simply great to surf the web on, period. In a few weeks a […]