It seems to do exactly what it claims to, though I'm finding the last beta handles my page refreshes better. This version seems to just keep reloading them over and over, which means it isn't loading at all.
Tad Williams "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn" trilogy is probalby the best fantasy I've read, period (apologies to J.R.R.). Dragonbone Chair, Stone of Farewell, To Green Angel Tower are the book titles.
He also is writing an epic sci-fi cycle called "Otherland." A cross between the Matrix, classic cyberpunk, and Alice in Wonderland. High, High quality.
YMMV, but the Treo looks much more professional in both functions, not like a toy, or even--like the I300--like a toy brick.
"The I300 is smoothly integrated with the PalmOS, from playing with the Treo I can see they have a LOT of work to do in this area"
What have you been smoking? The treo's phone functions are as tightly integrated into the PalmOS as they could be? How do you dial a number from your I300? I tap two to three letters on my keyboard and press enter.
"The I300 has a speaker phone! This is an AWESOME feature, just tap the speaker icon while on a phone call and switch over to other Palm apps to take down phone numbers, dates, etc."
ditto. Or, if you don't want to tap a button on the screen, just hit the spacebar.
"The I300 isn't wide at all - it's actuall skinnier (width wise) than these Treo's. It's kinda long, but is actually skinnier THICKNESS wise than my old Samsung"
Treo is slightly wider than the I300, but shorter and has an overall smaller feel, especially with it's curved edges. the I300 is a brick.
"I'd highly recommend checking out the I300 before purchasing a Treo."
I'd highly tell you where to stick it. If you want a CDMA smart phone, the 270 should be out for Sprint by the end of Summer. Otherwise the 180 is good for GSM, andt he 270 for GSM will be out within the month.
Don't you mean
on
Hawaii Wi-Fi
·
· Score: 5, Funny
doesn't help the PocketPC crowd, but the best PalmOS solution I've found to the AvantGo crunch is iSilo. I posted a thread about it over at , here.
Here's what I thought, in case it gets slashdotted:
Why iSilo 3.0 whales on everything else I've tried
Size: It has a smaller footprint. The documents are reduced too. Want graphics: you can choose page per page, greyscale, bw, color, or none at all. Same with Link Depth, as deep as you want.
Easy Automation: iSilo for Windows to set up the channels, iSiloXC to have them update nightly. It's not as dead simple as AvantGo, but it sure is easier than Plucker (for now, we'll see what I think when I'm not running a windows box)
Channel Customization: Each channel becomes its own document. No homepage to configure. You can delete channels when you're done reading them.
Navigation: iSilo has back, forward, page up, page down, and % of a page navigation. Scrolling: the Autoscroll is still not as clear as CSpotRun's (nothing is, IMO, and I can't say why..), butclear enough and handy. You can also customize the behavoir of scroll buttons, jog dials, screen scroll buttons...
Custom Views: Whatever you want, from straight BW up to the max your PDA can handle, be it Handera or Sony's monster-color. like the scrollbar, keep it. hate it? ditch it. Same with the top and bottom toolbars.
Speed: yep. She's fast.
Expansion: Ok, this doesn't apply to me since I use a Treo. But iSilo can install directly to expansion cards (though I don't know about visors... may not be there...).
Categories: Put your channels in categories.
One App for both Documents and Web sites. Copying: easily copy text, whatever portion you want.
Button Customization: Set up all your buttons (including Handera/Sony's jog push and back.. and hopefully soon also for the Treo) to do what you want, scroll, next page, autoscroll toggle, bookmarks, back, forward, etc.
Bookmarks: Insert bookmarks in any document on the fly. You can also just "mark" a location for faster returns.
Screen Regions: The screen is split into 4ths, each region can be set to dragging scroll, page scroll, line scroll, etc.
...phew! That about does it.
The not-so-good
Custom content: AvantGo hides their channel links and some are just unavailable to others. I can't find the NYT frontpage or bookreviews. I had to sign up for Salon Premium and do their daily download to get it.
Link Depth: Somehow, even channels designed for avantgo get screwy. Slashdot, for example, gets hella-big when I set link depth to 3. when i set it to 2, no comments, so no point.
Not a Browser: well, this is a plus for me, b/c I've got a browser in ROM and therefore I don't need another. but still...
Easy Channels: Hunting for channels is a PITA, especially when you discover that you're just not going to find them. Your only friend in this endeavor is the site: tag on google.
I've had it for about a week or so now, and it is hands-down the best monochrome PalmOS device I've ever had.
The Treo matches this RIM feature for feature and surpasses it in a few important areas: Unlike this new Blackberry, the design is such that it is actually useful as a phone--it looks like a phone, talks like a phone, etc. Always-on email is coming with GPRS later this year, and the available Qwerty thumboard is also just as good.
The Treo is smaller (RIM: 4.6 x 3.1 x 0.7 inches, Treo: 4.3" x 2.7" x 0.7"), it has a touchscreen, runs PalmOS, has 16 megs of ram (RIM: 8 + 1 sdram). There may be more. I can't tell, but it looks as though you may need to use the headset to use the voice capabilities. Treo offers you all three: handset, headset, speakerphone.
It looks as though the RIM uses GRPS [blackberry.net] instad of the Mobitex network. This should mean faster download times than the treo. However, as soon as Handspring gets the firmware update out, it will also be using the same network.
"Oh yeah Jim, um, what's-his-name wanted me to tell you, uh, hangon a sec." *flip, beep, poke poke poke, scroll, read, fumble, flip* "Ok Jim, yeah it was so and so, and if I remember correctly he said blah blah blah."
...actually, it would be more like,
"Oh yeah Jim, um, what's-his-name" (taps speakerphone button, navigates to note as he continues speaking without interruption) "wanted me to tell you so and so, it was Bob. And he said... I'll email you the details as soon as we end the call."
Now if they could fix that last part, that would be cool!
...and nobody's complained. I've worked for several years with ESL students, and the damage that M$ has done to them with their cursed Grammar "corrector" has been nearly irreparable in many cases.
In many ways, forcing folks into the standard grammar (of the active, patriarchical type the M$ typically endorses in Word) is an even more insidious form of censorship than eliminating words from a thesaurus. Most people can tell when specific words are being denied them, but can they tell when the very structure of the language is limited?
Of course, I don't think the M$ has the brains to actually use this to their advantage in any ordered way. Both cases tend to simply increase the corporate, top-down structure that America is heading toward.
I mean, come on, it's not "censorship," it's "differently-abled speech!"
F 451 speaks much better, the original cause of the book burning was a desire for political correctness, for appealing to the lowest common denominator. A quote;
"You can't build a house without nails and wood. If you don't want a house built, hide the nails and wood. If you don't want a man unhappy politically, don't give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none. Let him forget there is such a thing as war"
there you go, censoring things (even individual words) because they may offend is simply a little whisper of tyrrany, not a great roar. Which, do you suppose, is harder to fight? The defenses here seem to be the answer to that question.
Slashdot Mirror
Twin Cities Federal (www.tcfbank.com) also quit with this release.
It seems to do exactly what it claims to, though I'm finding the last beta handles my page refreshes better. This version seems to just keep reloading them over and over, which means it isn't loading at all.
I would hold off on this download.
Tad Williams "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn" trilogy is probalby the best fantasy I've read, period (apologies to J.R.R.). Dragonbone Chair, Stone of Farewell, To Green Angel Tower are the book titles.
He also is writing an epic sci-fi cycle called "Otherland." A cross between the Matrix, classic cyberpunk, and Alice in Wonderland. High, High quality.
more info on his website
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/macosx.html
:)
It just ignores them. Oh, and no macrovision, either.
"The I300 looks professional, not like a toy"
YMMV, but the Treo looks much more professional in both functions, not like a toy, or even--like the I300--like a toy brick.
"The I300 is smoothly integrated with the PalmOS, from playing with the Treo I can see they have a LOT of work to do in this area"
What have you been smoking? The treo's phone functions are as tightly integrated into the PalmOS as they could be? How do you dial a number from your I300? I tap two to three letters on my keyboard and press enter.
"The I300 has a speaker phone! This is an AWESOME feature, just tap the speaker icon while on a phone call and switch over to other Palm apps to take down phone numbers, dates, etc."
ditto. Or, if you don't want to tap a button on the screen, just hit the spacebar.
"The I300 isn't wide at all - it's actuall skinnier (width wise) than these Treo's. It's kinda long, but is actually skinnier THICKNESS wise than my old Samsung"
Treo is slightly wider than the I300, but shorter and has an overall smaller feel, especially with it's curved edges. the I300 is a brick.
"I'd highly recommend checking out the I300 before purchasing a Treo."
I'd highly tell you where to stick it. If you want a CDMA smart phone, the 270 should be out for Sprint by the end of Summer. Otherwise the 180 is good for GSM, andt he 270 for GSM will be out within the month.
Hawaii Wi-Fi-OH?
Here's what I thought, in case it gets slashdotted:
Why iSilo 3.0 whales on everything else I've tried
Size: It has a smaller footprint. The documents are reduced too. Want graphics: you can choose page per page, greyscale, bw, color, or none at all. Same with Link Depth, as deep as you want.
Easy Automation: iSilo for Windows to set up the channels, iSiloXC to have them update nightly. It's not as dead simple as AvantGo, but it sure is easier than Plucker (for now, we'll see what I think when I'm not running a windows box)
Channel Customization: Each channel becomes its own document. No homepage to configure. You can
delete channels when you're done reading them.
Navigation: iSilo has back, forward, page up, page down, and % of a page navigation.
Scrolling: the Autoscroll is still not as clear as CSpotRun's (nothing is, IMO, and I can't say why..), butclear enough and handy. You can also customize the behavoir of scroll buttons, jog dials, screen scroll buttons...
Custom Views: Whatever you want, from straight BW up to the max your PDA can handle, be it Handera or Sony's monster-color. like the scrollbar, keep it. hate it? ditch it. Same with the top and bottom toolbars.
Speed: yep. She's fast.
Expansion: Ok, this doesn't apply to me since I use a Treo. But iSilo can install directly to expansion cards (though I don't know about visors... may not be there...).
Categories: Put your channels in categories.
One App for both Documents and Web sites.
Copying: easily copy text, whatever portion you want.
Button Customization: Set up all your buttons (including Handera/Sony's jog push and back.. and hopefully soon also for the Treo) to do what you want, scroll, next page, autoscroll toggle, bookmarks, back, forward, etc.
Bookmarks: Insert bookmarks in any document on the fly. You can also just "mark" a location for faster
returns.
Screen Regions: The screen is split into 4ths, each region can be set to dragging scroll, page scroll, line
scroll, etc.
...phew! That about does it.
The not-so-good
Custom content: AvantGo hides their channel links and some are just unavailable to others. I can't find the NYT frontpage or bookreviews. I had to sign up for Salon Premium and do their daily download to get it.
Link Depth: Somehow, even channels designed for avantgo get screwy. Slashdot, for example, gets hella-big when I set link depth to 3. when i set it to 2, no comments, so no point.
Not a Browser: well, this is a plus for me, b/c I've got a browser in ROM and therefore I don't need another. but still...
Easy Channels: Hunting for channels is a PITA, especially when you discover that you're just not going to find them. Your only friend in this endeavor is the site: tag on google.
...there ya go, get iSilo
Can anyone point me to anything better that has these so-called desired features?
The Handspring Treo. Everything but GPRS, which will be a free upgrade this spring/summer. It does all this and it has a UI that's actually useful.
Ok, one thing the RIM has is a backlit keyboard. Whoop-de-do.
The Treo matches this RIM feature for feature and surpasses it in a few important areas: Unlike this new Blackberry, the design is such that it is actually useful as a phone--it looks like a phone, talks like a phone, etc. Always-on email is coming with GPRS later this year, and the available Qwerty thumboard is also just as good.
The Treo is smaller (RIM: 4.6 x 3.1 x 0.7 inches, Treo: 4.3" x 2.7" x 0.7"), it has a touchscreen, runs PalmOS, has 16 megs of ram (RIM: 8 + 1 sdram). There may be more. I can't tell, but it looks as though you may need to use the headset to use the voice capabilities. Treo offers you all three: handset, headset, speakerphone.
It looks as though the RIM uses GRPS [blackberry.net] instad of the Mobitex network. This should mean faster download times than the treo. However, as soon as Handspring gets the firmware update out, it will also be using the same network.
"Oh yeah Jim, um, what's-his-name wanted me to tell you, uh, hangon a sec." *flip, beep, poke poke poke, scroll, read, fumble, flip* "Ok Jim, yeah it was so and so, and if I remember correctly he said blah blah blah."
...actually, it would be more like,
"Oh yeah Jim, um, what's-his-name" (taps speakerphone button, navigates to note as he continues speaking without interruption) "wanted me to tell you so and so, it was Bob. And he said... I'll email you the details as soon as we end the call."
Now if they could fix that last part, that would be cool!
...and nobody's complained. I've worked for several years with ESL students, and the damage that M$ has done to them with their cursed Grammar "corrector" has been nearly irreparable in many cases.
In many ways, forcing folks into the standard grammar (of the active, patriarchical type the M$ typically endorses in Word) is an even more insidious form of censorship than eliminating words from a thesaurus. Most people can tell when specific words are being denied them, but can they tell when the very structure of the language is limited?
Of course, I don't think the M$ has the brains to actually use this to their advantage in any ordered way. Both cases tend to simply increase the corporate, top-down structure that America is heading toward.
I mean, come on, it's not "censorship," it's "differently-abled speech!"
F 451 speaks much better, the original cause of the book burning was a desire for political correctness, for appealing to the lowest common denominator. A quote;
"You can't build a house without nails and wood. If you don't want a house built, hide the nails and wood. If you don't want a man unhappy politically, don't give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none. Let him forget there is such a thing as war"
there you go, censoring things (even individual words) because they may offend is simply a little whisper of tyrrany, not a great roar. Which, do you suppose, is harder to fight? The defenses here seem to be the answer to that question.