... to the April edition of our user and developer PDA tips newsletter.
The focus of this issue is WiFi-related tools, tips and utilities -- but, as always, there's a fair portion of PalmOS, phone and Pocket PC items as well.
Please feel free to submit requests or ideas through the links
at the bottom of this page. This is also where you will find
subscription and removal information.
Palm related items in our newsletters are marked with this icon. The Pocket PC/WinCE items are marked with this one and Phone-related PDA tips show a icon. Because of the continued rapid growth in the area of wireless tools (and because these tools span the above categories) -- we have also added a wireless icon starting with this issue.
Please note: This newsletter contains tips and tools that can alter your PDA.
These items are offered here "as is" and without any warranty or support from FO. Please
consider them carefully before using or trying them (and as always ... backup, backup, backup first -- before making any changes).
Thank you,
Bill Shadish, Principal
User Tips and Tools
Wireless Security Hall of Shame
(The six dumbest ways to secure a wireless LAN) http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/index.php?m=20050318
This item is due indirectly Tracy Reed who runs the Palm Mailing list, as this Hall of Shame was found posted on his site.
The author of the Hall of Shame presents thoughts refuting 6 commonly suggested "Urban Legend" ways of protecting a wireless LAN.
MAC Address,
SSID Hiding,
Cisco LEAP authentication,
Disable DHCP,
Antenna placement,
Just use 802.11a or Bluetooth,
(and WEP is discussed as well).
If any of that article causes you concern (as it probably should if you are using those methods), then the following two articles reach out to address these concerns and to provide some answers. First, for the SOHO, small wireless LAN user is this http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/index.php?p=42 article, where the WPA PSK (Wi-Fi Protected Access Pre-Shared Key) mode is recommended.
WiFiFoFum 0.3.3 (donationware)
(yes, that was "Fi", "Fo", "Fum") http://www.aspecto-software.com/WiFiFoFum/Download.htm
This tool provides several ways to graph or chart the WiFi Access Points (APs) that are within range of your PDA.
There is a neat radar view, where all APs, from all surrounding wireless LANs are displayed, including the general distance of where they are located, based on signal strength (RSSI). Adhoc and Infrastructure connections are supported -- along with many other parameters -- and you can connect to an AP by tapping within WiFiFoFum.
There is a forum and FAQs for support at the site.
WifFi v1.1 (freeware) http://wiffi.splitbits.com/Wiki.jsp?page=Download
WifFi is a simple sniffer for finding 802.11 compatible access points with a Tungsten C or Palm devices
with the PalmOne WiFi card (like the Tungsten T5, T3, Zire 72 and even the Tapwave Zodiac game platform).
This application enables you to download files directly into to your memory card.
These files can include images (see graphic) or links from web pages. Check the README file.
PKWrite Rapid Text Entry v1.02D (freeware) http://www.geocities.com/rgasparotto1/PKWrite.html
This is an interesting writing utility, for anyone who has mastered the cyclical keypresses used to enter text on (most) mobile phones. The idea is to more easily enter text, using only one hand.
Entry is done with 8 (+/-) keys and includes features like an 6,800-word dictionary -- which you can add to; left and right-handed versions, large and small-buttoned versions and the ability to capture what you've entered automatically into the clipboard, where it can be moved to other applications. Additional features include:
Type with one hand using the thumb-optimized layouts !
Text entry similar to that used by most cellular/mobile phone manufacturers
Only 8 keys used to type all 26 alphabetic characters
Intelligent "guessing" of intended words using frequency-based dictionary
Word/Phrase completion available
Ability to add and remove words and phrases from the built in dictionary (registered version only)
Frequency-based ordering of dictionary words. This is updated constantly as words are chosen.
Automatic sentence shifting provided (after '?', '!' and '.')
Dealing with dead pixels on PDA devices is an ongoing pain -- with most hardware vendors having rules for how many must be dead before an item is returned or repaired.
DELL for example, allows up to 6 dead pixels before a return can be authorized. The following tools help you to find the number of dead pixels (if any) that are on your device -- possibly even at the store, before you ever take it home.
This is kind of neat -- a WWI dogfight game, downloadable for free. There are versions for both Bluetooth and IrDa, so that two people can play on different PDAs.
The only drawback? It's a 2 dimensional field of combat-- you can go left & right and faster & slower, but not up & down. This is something that (quite literally) burned the red, trailing FO plane in the photo (blue arrow) when it tried to do a Hoffman Barrel Roll to get out of a jam. It's a nice little game even withstanding our fiery fate.
CRCCheck .NET v1.0 http://www.pc-counselor.com/ http://www.pocketgear.com/download.asp?product_id=16686
A useful addition to your toolset for checking the validity of files on a PPC. Running CRCCheck pops up a file list, that you use to select a file.
Doing so returns the CRC value and the file size of the file chosen. If the CRC value or even the file size of a binary application ever changes in the future -- it is a sign that it could have been infected with a virus or simply corrupted in memory.
To use it, unzip the download file and copy the crccheck.exe to your Pocket PC.
Updated ActiveSync for Windows Mobile-based Pocket PCs and Smartphones. Features are largely security-related, including removing Windows XP SP2 security pop up warnings when a device is first docked and that
Remote PC Sync (via Wifi or LAN) is turned off by default.
See this page (What's new in 3.8) for more information.
Development Tips and Tools
(Sites with content most valuable to developers)
vxUtil (Personal) v1.6.2 http://www.cam.com/vxutil_pers.html
This is one of those little utilities that are nice to have in your bag-of-tricks when at client's site. vxUtil has a number commonly required tools, including DNS Audit; DNS Lookup; Finger; Get HTML; IP Subnet Calculator; Password Generator; Ping; Ping Sweep; Port Scanner, Quote; Trace Route; Wake on LAN and WhoIs. Not bad for a freeware gizmo.
TodayWarrior is a PPC Today screen plug in. The mass of status icons and characters shown (blue arrow) in the middle of the above Today screen only demonstrates a little of what this app provides. (Some) of the capabilities are listed below, but you will definitely want to visit the description page shown above for more detail on what can be done.
Many of the icons and information change in some cases when you tap-on (cycle-through) them. For example, the Remaining Time indicator can show "Battery Volts, current (mA), power consumption (mW) and battery temperature in ºC and ºF." -- so, don't be afraid to tap to see what all is available.
There are two main bars of information across the screen. Energy Management
and WiFi Management. The Energy line contains the battery icon; charge status; a button to jump to the power management screen; a slider to alter the brightness of the screen and more (like a reset button). The WiFi line shows whether a WiFi card is there, and if so, if it is on or off. Also found here is information on available networks; WEP on or off; connections speeds; and, again, more.
Installation is a little tricky: Copy the CAB file to the PPC and execute it. If the Plug-in does not appear automatically go to the today control panel in panel, Items, and select it. Or, do a soft-reset. The most important thing to remember is that it takes about 10 minutes to initially set itself up. So give it at least that much before expecting it to show up on the Today screen.
Detecting user inactivity in the Symbian OS http://www.newlc.com/article.php3?id_article=275
This site shows how to detect user activity (key presses and similar activities) in the Symbian OS. You are able to hook in your own functionality within the callback functions.
The C++ object to detect activity is described as follows, with code for full
interaction on the site shown above.
class CActivityManager : public CActive
{
public:
IMPORT_C static CActivityManager* NewL(MActivityManagerObserver* aObserver, TInt aTimeout = 60);
IMPORT_C ~CActivityManager();
IMPORT_C void SetTimeout(TInt aTimeout);
IMPORT_C void Start();
IMPORT_C void Reset();
protected: // from CActive
void DoCancel();
void RunL();
protected:
CActivityManager(MActivityManagerObserver* aObserver, TInt aTimeout);
void ConstructL();
protected:
enum TWatch { ENone = 0, EWaitingForInactivity, EWaitingForActivity };
protected:
RTimer iTimer;
TWatch iWatch;
MActivityManagerObserver* iObserver; // The observer of activity status
TInt iTimeout; // Current inactivity period
};
Porting from Series 60 to the Series 80 Developer Platform http://www.symbian.com/developer/techlib/papers/cpp_porting.asp#from_series60
A guide to help in porting S60 apps to the S80 developer platform,
both of which are built on top of the v7.0 Symbian OS. Clicking to this page will also display a list of other
Symbian development topics, such as moving from S60 to UIQ; how to set up alarms; and, Using multiple toolbars from a single resource file.
TIP:
Reoccurring PPC events
Submitted by Andy Mann
Ottawa Area ISD
"When you enter a reoccurring event into the PPC calendar, enter it on
the first day the event happened. For example, enter your anniversary on
the day and year you were married. Or a birthday on the day a person was
born. When the event is set to reoccur each year, it will tell you how
many times it has occurred. This way you'll never forget if it is your
24th or 25 anniversary or how old your children will be on their next
birthday."
"To convert WMV video files, even for a Pocket PC - use the XP Movie tools hidden under [the Entertainment menu, under] Accessories. It will convert exactly for the PPC. I also purchased Apple's QuicktimePro - Just to do conversions for various formats. Cool tool. "
Submit-a-Tip
After each issue, we receive a number of reader comments, questions and tips regarding handhelds. We would like to share these tips with all of our readers as well.
If you would like to suggest topics
for us to focus on, we will strive to add content in the direction
of the most interest. Choose from the following categories, or
add your own, and include this in your email:
Palm Development
Palm User Interface topics (look &
feel issues),
Palm User-oriented topics (tips!),
Palm vs. Pocket PC issues
<other>
If you have other comments or suggestions,
please send us an email with your thoughts by clicking
here.
icon. The Pocket PC/WinCE items are marked with this 
one and Phone-related PDA tips show a 
icon. Because of the continued rapid growth in the area of wireless tools (and because these tools span the above categories) -- we have also added a wireless 
icon starting with this issue.
