BlogEntry/2008/02/10

Hasta la vista, Vista

I finally gave up on Windows Vista on my SH8. I tried to make it work, I really did. But in the end, you don't use a computer for the OS, you use it for the applications. Vista support for XP applications was the last straw. The story is too long for a blog post, so I wrote it up as a pair of articles:

Hopefully this will be of value to anyone considering which Windows OS to use on their SH series machine.

BlogEntry/2008/01/26

SH8 BlueSoleil Upgrade

Since I got my SH8 I've been annoyed by the BlueSoleil software stack that Kohjinsha includes. I've never been a big fan of BlueSoleil in the first place. Using it on the SH8 was even more annoying due to the fact that the 3.x version Kohjinsha includes doesn't play nice with Vista. Every time I activated BlueSoleil I had to click through a Vista UAC dialog to give it permission to run. Once that was out of the way it worked ok, but the extra step added just enough awkwardness to really sour the experience.

So when BlueSoleil prompted me that there was a newer version available I was eager to check it out. Unfortunately, IVT gives no hints as to whether the new version is compatible with the SH8. Nor did they bother to mention whether it was a free or paid upgrade for Kohjinsha owners. I use my SH8 for work so I didn't want to risk breaking anything, so I continued to put up with the old version. Thanks to the UMPC Forum I was finally able to find someone else who had tried (successfully) the upgrade.

With the risks reduced, I finally set out to try the upgrade. I immediately got a good scare as the upgrade installer proceeded to hang part way through. Luckily I was able to system restore to the pre-broken-install state. A week later I got a chance to try again. This time I Fn+F1 disabled Bluetooth before kicking off the install. The install completed normally and one reboot later the new BT drivers were up and running.

The new 5.0 version of BlueSoleil so far seems like a big improvement over the 3.x version the SH6/8 ships with. The UAC dialogs are gone and what's even nicer is that they've switched from the hideous "orbiting devices" GUI to a much more conventional "Bluetooth Places" GUI. Only time will tell if the long-term stability is as good or better than the 3.x version, but barring any such problems I'd say this is definitely a recommended upgrade.

BlogEntry/2007/12/24

Giving Up On Email

Studies have shown that email has fallen out of favor with young people as a tool for personal communication. They are increasingly turning to Instant Messaging (IM), domain specific messaging (such as MySpace and Facebook), and mobile messaging (SMS). I may not be "young", but I feel their email angst. Spam is rapidly turning personal email into a vast wasteland of pump-and-dump stock scams, discount Viagra, and porn ads.

This isn't a new phenomenon. Spam has been a serious problem for at least a dozen years. My own statistics show that the problem is actually improving slightly as ISPs and large email services (like Yahoo and AOL) roll out changes intended to stem the flood of spam through their systems. These changes however suffer from two problems. The simple problem is that they are too little, too late. The "defections" are already in full swing and the competing tools have had time to develop into viable alternatives.

The more complex problem is that the "cures" are nearly as damaging to email as the disease. For the last ten years or so I have run my own SMTP server. In the early days it ran on my desktop Linux machine. Later it moved to my external business server. Then, a couple years ago, as my business went from a full-time to a part-time endeavor, I pulled the business server into my home network. That's when the problems began.

Spam itself has always been a problem. But after trying a variety of tools, I found that Spam Assassin was effective enough to keep email usable. The real issue stemmed from the fact that my server was behind a dynamic IP address. The problem of mapping an internet mail server name to a dynamic IP address is easily solved. However, anti-spam tools recognize that my outgoing mail is coming from a dynamic IP address. Best case, they just count that fact against me when figuring the "spamicity" of my emails. Worst case, they completely "blacklist" me. In some cases I could get recipients to "whitelist" me an my mail would get through, but I've found that lately even that isn't working.

To make matters worse, many ISPs are completely blocking port 25 (SMTP) to and from their home users. I found recently that RoadRunner in my area had moved their SMTP servers to a non-standard port. I suspect this is a prelude to them blocking port 25 for outbound traffic. Now, even with those restrictions it is possible to set up most MTAs to use a "smart host", but I doubt the port restrictions are the end of it. I also experienced a period of a few days where RR's SMTP server would reject any mail that didn't have a "From" address matching my RR account. This extra security measure (which fortunately disappeared a few days later) really interfered with smart-host behavior. There are probably ways around that with address rewriting rules, but at some point it just becomes more effort that it's worth.

So the bottom line is I've given up on the idea of running my own SMTP server. As much as I like the idea of having that level of control, it just isn't worth the trouble. I'll go back to relying on my ISP or Gmail to serve as my email interface to the internet. It will require an adjustment in the short term, but I suspect that 10 years from now the role of email in personal communication (outside the corporate world) will have changed to the point where email will be a necessary evil no more interesting than the regular postal service is today.

BlogEntry/2007/11/29

SH8 First Report

My SH8 ordered from Conics.net arrived today! So far I am _very_ impressed. I'll have a much more detailed review later, but my number one initial impression is that the keyboard on the SH8 is so much better than the SA1 that it's hard to even describe the difference. I'm typing this entry on the SH8 and I find that I can touch-type nearly as fast as I can on a regular laptop keyboard.

A few other random observations:

  • Machine feels very solid
  • Sitting here with the TV on I can't hear any noise from the SH8 even with "silent mode" turned off
  • This is my first experience with Vista -- I can't say I like it but I'll give it a chance to win me over
  • 1024x600 on the SH8 vs. 800x480 on the SA1 is a much bigger difference than I expected

I wasn't sure the upgrade would be worth the extra expense, but I can definitely say that it was money well spent!

BlogEntry/2007/11/21

Kohjinsha Upgrade Time

Well, I made the "mistake" of visiting Conics.net today and discovered that they are now carrying the Kohjinsha SH811W. The SH811W is 800MHz version of the SH series in pearl white and with an English keyboard layout. I had toyed with the idea of upgrading from the SA to the SH, but the previous 600MHz models didn't offer enough of a speed boost to make it worthwhile for me. But 800MHz, an English keyboard, and easing restrictions on laptops with integrated webcams where I work made this just too tempting to pass up.

So I placed the order and knowing Conics.net's crazy-fast shipping I should have it early next week. Once I've had some time to really test it out, I should be able to post an SA vs. SH head-to-head comparison. I've seen plenty of SH reviews, but few that compare it hands-on with the SA models.

And that also means that, assuming I'm happy with the new model, my old SA1F (complete with upgraded keyboard) will go up on the auction block. If you've been wishing to get an Kohjinsha SA model that you can actually type on, keep an eye on this space.

Superdave: FrontPage (last edited 2008-06-25 15:22:52 by DavidKessler)