VOIP.wars!

They say talk is cheap. Google thinks it should be free. Google is getting pretty aggressive these days. I wonder how Google Talk fares with the likes of Skype and Gizmo?

HotSyncing.the.T5.via.WiFi

I have always enjoyed the freedom that wireless technology offers, especially when it comes to portable devices like PDAs/handhelds and notebooks it makes them truly portable, so imagine my surprise when I can't successfully sync my T5 with the Palm Wi-Fi card i just bought. The T5 just gave me an error stating it can't find my pc or something like that and I was freaking out because PalmOne's knowledgebase doesn't mention anything about this.
I was curious why it didn't work, the T5 wasn't the culprit as I was able to hotsync using the included USB cable as well as via Bluetooth. Network connectivity issues was nil with my old Tungsten C so I can't understand why a newer product such as the T5 would have problems. WiFi connectivity was also not an issue, we have both an 802.11g and 802.11b network in our office and using the T5 (and a Wifi card) to browse the Internet and for checking emails was flawlessly simple. I can even ping the T5 and have it ping a remote pc on the network, but again I was clueless as to how a simple network hotsync was not possible with it. After days of testing different configurations (some even hilariously stupid ;D just because I got so bored with it) I finally narrowed down the problem and provided a fix. It seems that the hotsync application found on the T5 (possibly brought by firmware fix v1.1?) had a bug, it cannot recognize a pc (on this case your primary pc) on a network if you provided a name (yes, weird huh?). The solution is to leave it blank or replace it with two exclamation marks("!!").

To make matters easier for would be T|5 WiFi hotsync-ers(pardon the expression) i'm posting the "complete" and in this case, corrected guide :D (excerpts taken from PalmOne's website)

Preparing your PC
Before you can synchronize wirelessly, you need to set up your network computer for synchronizing.

1. Right-click the HotSync Manager icon on your system tray and select "Network" (make sure it is checked.)
2. Set up your username.
1. From the HotSync Manager menu, select Setup
2. Click the Network tab and select your username if it is not already selected
   
3. Click OK , and then synchronize your handheld with your computer using a local connection, that is, thru cable/cradle or bluetooth. Its important to note that this step must work without errors before proceeding.

Preparing your handheld
Follow these steps the first time you synchronize wirelessly to set up your network connection on your handheld.

1. In the Applications/Home screen, select HotSync
2. Select Network in the Modem Sync Preferences dialog box:
1. Open the menus
2. Select Options, and then select Modem Sync Prefs.
3. Select Network.
4. Select OK.
   
3. Select the service for your Wi-Fi network
1. Select Modem.
2. Select the service box.
3. Select the Service pick list and select Wi-Fi.
4. Select Done.
4. Verify the Information about your computer is correct.
1. Open the menus
2. Select the Options menu and then select Primary PC Setup
3. Leave the Primary PC Name blank, but verify that the IP address of your computer is correct on the Primary PC Address field.
4. Select OK
   
5. And we're done

Btw, leaving the Primary PC name blank might be a problem the next time you inspect the configuration because it will be filled up with the correct name and again will prevent it from hotsyncing, the best way as far as I'm concerned, it to replace the Primary PC name with two exclamation marks ("!!"'), works flawlessly on my end. Hope this is a big help to those of you trying the same thing. 'Till next blog ;D

not.so.random.links

The Treo 670 is real...and they got the videos to prove it. First, the Mac goes x86 and now Windows on a Treo? the sky must really be falling :D

Forget Multiplicity, the opensource community has the latest and coolest app called Synergy. I've been waiting for an app like this and now its finally here, not only does it support multiple monitors but it also supports multiple OSes as well. Beat that! Now if only it allows me to teleport ;)