18 Oct 07 Use your mobile phone to control your presentations with Open Office

Most people when doing any kind of presentation that use slide, prefer to use a wired or wireless mouse to control the flow of this presentation.
Others prefer to ask some one to control it and have to make some kind of sign during the presentation to ask for the next slide (in my last experience the sign was: next slide please!).
I use my cell phone to control my presentations, using this great piece of free software: mOOo Impress Controller

The Software was developer using:

Open Office UNO (Universal Network Objects)
Java Micro Edition
Marge Project

What do you need to play with it?
Mobile:

at least CLDC 1.0
at least MIDP 2.0
JSR-82 (just the package javax.bluetooth). If your mobile has Bluetooth, it does not mean that it implements JSR 82. You can check if it has the btapi at http://www.j2mepolish.org .

Desktop:

OpenOffice.org 2.2, BrOffice.org 2.2, or compatible.
Java SE 5.0
Bluetooth USB Adapter or any other Bluetooth hardware.
Bluetooth Protocol Stack in your OS (Operating System).

Ok, it is cool, but what are the real benefits of it?
Think about, when people see that you are using your cell phone to control the presentation, you can talk about any shit, they wont hear you, they will be looking at your cell phone
Well, at least if your public is not reading it right now

I tested it here and it just worked like a charm!

After you test it, please give the developers some feedback using this form, event if it did not worked within your environment, this will help them a lot to improve this very cool thing

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Tags: bluetooth, cool factor, freeware, mobile, openoffice, opensource, presentation

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03 Oct 07 KDE Bluetooth – Your Symbian can make your Linux more secure!

If you are using KDE in your linux box, you can use your Symbian Smart Phone to make your desktop a little more secure.
For security, now I mean, not allow anyone to touch your desktop without you knowing it.

I do not know if I’m the only one, but sometimes I forget to lock my desktop when I’m not around.

The version of KDE that ships with Kubuntu 7.10 cames with a handy tool called: KBlueLock
You can start it by running the command kbluelock, or starting the kdebluetooth icon (the one that will show the task icon like the screenshot bellow)
And when you click the icon, the following menu will appear, after that, just click in the KBlueLock iten.
The screen bellow will show, and when you select the first check box, your device will be shown in the list, just select your cell phone (ot any other bluetooth device that fits in your pocket), and the desktop will be locked automatically if you walk away from your PC.
If you select the second check box too, it will automatically unlock unlock your desktop for you, that way you have your desktop working only when it knows that you are around (of course you can allways use your password to unlock it).

The only problem with this approach is that you have to keep your bluetooth enabled

PS.: is there any software that does this on Windows?

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Tags: cool factor, network, security

Filed in linux with 2 Comments

01 Oct 07 It is getting easier to sync your cell phone with your linux box

Very long time without posting, but a good one now, it is getting easier
to sync your cell phone with your linux, I have just upgraded my Kubuntu [bb]
to gutsy (7.10) and just got a very good surprise, not it comes with the
new version of Kitchensync, this one makes it really easy to setup the
synchronization, and you do not need to touch a single configuration
file, you can do everything from the great KDE GUI.

When I open Kytchensync (K Menu, Utilities, KitchenSyncFilter), I can
see the list of all “Sync profiles” I have already created, to sync my
phone I need only to click on the Synchronize button at the tool bar, or
in the “Synchronize Now” at the bottom of the selected profile.

Lets take a look at the setup I use to sync my Nokia N80 with Kontact
(you can use it with any symbian device).

I just clicked in the Edit Group, but you can create a new group, and
just add a KDE PIM and a “SyncML over OBEX client”.

You have lots of possible endpoints, I have just a few installed on my
machine, but Kitchensync uses opensync as its backend, so it has support
for Evolution2, Google Calendar and many more client/server points. The
great thing is that you can sync more than two points at a time.

The KDE PIM member does not need any configuration, the only problem is
that you need to close Kontact before synchronizing, the OpenSync group
tells that when KDE 4 is out this problem will be fixed.

Now I need to configure the connection to my Nokia N80, configure the
MAC address of your symbian smart phone and select channel 13 (for the
N80 13 is the right channel, for other models this can change), you can
use Konqueror to discover the MAC address of your cell phone Bluetooth
port (I do not know if there is any key combination to show this number
in the display).

In the Data Bases tab, make sure your contacts database is named
“Contacts”, your calendar and tasks database is named “Calendar” and
your notes database is named “Notes”, if you have changed this on the
cell phone, change here according,

In the options tab, configure the same username and password that you
configured in your cell phone to the “PC Suite” synchronization profile,
I could not make it work without a username and a password, so you need
to choose one.

I had to choose the version 1.0 of SyncML for synchronization because in
the tests the synchronization freezed 3 times when I tested the version
1.1, and I cound’t even connect to the cell phone using the version 1.2.

Make sure the application identifier in this screen is “PC Suite” I have
tried some other names but for some strange reason this one is the only
that seems to work (yes, I created the other test profiles in the cell
phone too).

If you want to sync another point with your cell phone and Kontact, for
example google calendar, just add the member and configure it as in the
screenshot bellow (if you want to know my password, it is 10 stars

)

Well, I think now you can get your cell phone to sync to your linux box
too.

I’ll make some tests with gnome and evolution and will post here the
step by step.

If any one of you test this procedure with any other cell phone please
let me know if it works and what changes to this setup ware needed, then
I’ll keep here an updated list (or if you want to give-me a cell phone
to test I’ll be very happy

)

Thanks for taking time to read this.

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Tags: cool factor, freeware, network, office

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09 Aug 07 Looking for that new app for your Symbian phone? try looking at Symbian-Review.com

There is a new kid on the block
This new site is all about reviews and software tips for your Symbian smart phone.
Take a look at http://www.symbian-review.com/
Probably you will find what you need …

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Tags: cool factor, review

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22 Jul 07 What do you think about automatically coping your pictures from your N80 when you get home?

What do you think about automatically coping your pictures from your cell phone when you get home?
If you are using Kubuntu or any other linux with KDE as your UI you can do it very easilly.
I’m very happy with the integration I’m getting from my Kubuntu with my N80 …
And if you use any other linux flavor, you can configure it too …

Here is a step by step for you to get your pictures copied from your Symbian based device to your linux box, if your device is no a N80, you may have to change some little settings, but if it has bluetooth you can do it too …

All you need is the kdebluetooth package installed, and a bluetooth dongle on your linux box (or builtin support for BT).

First open “System Settings” from the K menu.
Click on the Bluetooth settings.
Then on Device Discovery, then on Add New Job.
Select Photo Copy
And type a name for it, I’ll use CopyPhotosN80.
The name can not have spaces on it.
Click OK
Then select the Job, and click the Configure Button
It will open the generated script with KEdit (so, if you do not have it installed, you will have to install it first)
You have to ajust the following settings on the opened script.

TARGETFOLDER – for me it is TARGETFOLDER=’/home/urubatan/Pictures’
SOURCEFOLDER – I have configured the default for my N80 to save the pictures in the miniSD card, so, for me the setting for this is: SOURCEFOLDER=’:11/E:/Images’

You can easily get this setting by browsing your device with Konkeror, and copying all the path after the device address.

TARGETFILEPREFIX – this is optional, but I have set it to: TARGETFILEPREFIX=’Image’

Save the script
Make sure the job you just created is checked.
Select it, and click Execute this job now. to test it.
Now you can select the Job, Select the option Listed Devices Only, and Add Device
Select your cell phone, just to make sure this will run only for your cell phone.
That is all …

Now, every day when you get home, all your pictures will get automatically copied to your home computer.
If you have read the other script names, you know that this KDE interface have a lot more options …
I’ll talk more about this later, but you already know that with the same script, you can copy any kind of files from your cell phone to your computer, and with a little more work, you can do the opposite too …

I hope this tip to be helpful for any one that takes the time to read this, if you have any doubt just ask …
And if you do not know how to do some thing with your cell phone and your linux box together, please let me know, I’ll try to solve the problem for you

PS.: if you comment more, I’ll post this tips more frequently …

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Tags: built-in, cool factor, freeware, multimedia

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17 Jul 07 Use your S60/Symbian phone to solve your memory problems

I just found this great piece of software called TotalRecall ™, that records all calls in or out from my N80.
Ok, and why this title for this post?
Well, because I always forget the name of the attendant I was talking when I call any 0800*** number …
I forget the time of the meeting I have just scheduled by phone.

and things like that.
So this software is really helping me out.
(OK, I think that this capability should be built-in the phone, I do not know who was the “great” engineer that created a phone sound recorder that cannot record a phone call, does it sound as stupid for you as it sounds to me?)

A little review of the software …
Features

Record in AMR format

Unlimited recording length

Record to the internal memory or external memory card

No Beep While Recording

Intuitively named clips

What could be better?
I have only two suggestions for them (in priority order):

enable the recording in MP3 instead of AMR
put the date and time of the call in the name of the sound file, besides the contact name.

The second thing I liked most was the price, it is just U$10 (at the time I’m writing this post).
So, take a look at their online store …

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Tags: cool factor, multimedia, productivity, review

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12 Jul 07 New host name for the blog

Ok, I know that I have not posted much quality content lately but I’ll work on that …
You should have noted that this blog is hosted on blogspot.
but now, with the new blogspot, I have the ability to use my own domain name with a blog hosted hosted here.
I have recently bought the domain urubatan.info that will hold my blog/site in english (I have already one in portuguese at http://www.urubatan.com.br)

And now I’m starting to use the .info domain!
The new address for this blog is http://mobile.urubatan.info
So please, update your bookmarks.
I hope to have a www.urubatan.info working soon, for now it points to my portuguese blog

Thank you very much!

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Tags: cool factor

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23 Jun 07 How to sync music to your S60 device with linux

I’m a music addict,

My
href="http://boo-box.com/link/aff:amazonid/uid:urubatanswebl-20/tags:nokia+N80"
class="bbli">N80 [bb] class="bbic" />

is always full of music, and syncing it to my computer is a must have
option …

With windows I used PC Suite for it, but now with linux I had to look
for an option …

The best
href="http://boo-box.com/link/aff:amazonid/uid:urubatanswebl-20/tags:music+player"
class="bbli">music player alt="[bb]" class="bbic" />

I have found is Amarok, the default player for KDE …

It plays almost all known music formats, have a good “intelligent play
lists” option, knows how to download
href="http://boo-box.com/link/aff:amazonid/uid:urubatanswebl-20/tags:Podcasts"
class="bbli">Podcasts [bb] class="bbic" />

, and the best of it, it can sync to devices …

here is a step by step to configure Amarok to sync my N80, it will work
with any S60 or symbian device I think …

First of all, connect your phone using the “data transfer” option with
the USB cable (it will be much faster than using BlueTooth …

Then open Amarok

The difference between transfer and sync is that transfer only copy the
music to your phone, and sync, removes music that is not on that list.

I’m very happy with this solution

Amarok is a great music player, and now I can sync my cell phone with my
kubuntu laptop

Any one is using a different solution?

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Tags: cool factor, multimedia

Filed in linux with 2 Comments

18 Jun 07 Symbian and Linux – Some questions …

Just a few questions for you …
Are there any other geeks like me, that use their Symbian device with a linux box?
Do you want to read posts about how to sync contacts, calendar, musics, files between your Symbian phone and your linux box?
Do you prefer posts with or without these almost random images?
Where is Wally? (Just kidding)

Why would you answer these questions?
Because if you do, I can write or not more of this, and with more details

Thanks for your contribution.

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Tags: cool factor, dream, mobile

Filed in linux with 13 Comments

15 Jun 07 I’m back, and with a cool thing to tell you (Your S60 phone is linux friendly) :D

I have not posted here for a long time, sorry for that …
Last week I had to format my notebook, and after a little problem with windows, I decided to change my environment to linux, and my choice for distribution was Kubuntu.
After that, I spend about 3 days looking for a way to sync my N80 with my brand new linux OS installed.
And the great news is that a have found a way, the bad news is that you will have to use the console for that (yeap, no UI) at least for the configuration, after it is working you can use the multisync0.90 gui for start the synchronization process …

So lets go with the little tutorial …
for the sync process you will need the opensync tools …
in kubuntu to install all the needed you need just to type:

$sudo apt-get install opensyncutils opensync-plugin-kdepim opensync-plugin-syncml multisync0.90 multisync-tools

That is all, you have all installed and ready to go …
now
lets do some configuration …

$msynctool –addgroup kdeN80
$msynctool –addmember kdeN80 kdepim-sync
$msynctool –addmember kdeN80 syncml-obex-client
$msynctool –configure kdeN80 2

and in the text editor that will open, replace all the text with this:

<config>
<bluetooth_address>XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX</bluetooth_address>
<bluetooth_channel>13</bluetooth_channel>
<identifier>PC Suite</identifier>
<version>1</version>
<wbxml>1</wbxml>
<username>the configured user name</username>
<password>the configured password</password>
<type>2</type>
<usestringtable>1</usestringtable>
<onlyreplace>0</onlyreplace>
<recvlimit>10000</recvlimit>
<contact_db>Contacts</contact_db>
<calendar_db>Calendar</calendar_db>
<note_db>Notes</note_db>
</config>

now you are really ready to go …
to start syncing just type:

$msynctool –sync kdeN80

for the next syncs you can use the multisync0.90 gui.
I hope you enjoy it, because I have not found any help on the web looking for this information …

the coolest thing about this way of syncing is that with almost no change, you can sync your cell phone with google calendar, you will just need to install the correct plugin for opensync:
$sudo apt-get install opensync-plugin-google-calendar

or you can sync directly your phone with your palm.

This synchronization tips can be used for any nokia symbian phone, the only thing that will probably change is the <bluetooth_channel>13</bluetooth_channel> setting.

Now you know that your N80, N70, or any other nokia S60 phone are Linux friendly.

I’ll write some more posts about N80 and linux integration in the next days …

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Tags: cool factor, freeware, mobile

Filed in linux with 15 Comments