Apple vs. Palm vs. Windows Mobile vs. Franklin Planner and a little IIS7

INTRO

After years of using my trusty Franklin planner, I decided to switch to a PDA a few years ago to keep my schedule/contacts/todos because quite frankly (excuse the pun!) I got tired of lugging around my 5lb. organizer with me everywhere. After trying an HP iPaq 5550 (WM2003), a Dell x50v (WM5), a Dell x51v (WM6-Football), I finally settled on a Palm TX. Why? Well, because Windows Mobile really just worked too slow for me. I was looking for something that was instant-on and could take notes quickly. While all the bells and whistles of Windows Mobile 6 were great, it really didn't work well. Call it personal preference, but coming from a Franklin planner, the Palm TX with Agendus Pro really just worked well. The only thing I didn't like was that at the same time, I switched from Windows Vista to Mac OSX for my primary laptop and it just didn't sync right until I got MarkSpace's Missing Sync. Well, my Palm TX finally gave out, although I will admit that it was my fault for breaking the screen on it. After checking the usual places for a screen replacement (which I did twice before on a Dell x50v and x51v), I decided to try using the Apple alternative as my PDA. It made sense to me because even Palm has pretty much given up on the PalmOS, opting for Windows Mobile on their new devices, and I had already pretty much made up my mind on Mac OSX as my main OS for home. I can hear all my PC friends sighing and scratching their heads already, but really, Mac OSX works the way I want and still allows me to use Windows and all the Unix/Linux tools I need under BootCamp/VMWare Fusion. Incidentally, I did try it the other way around using a Win XP machine with VMWare workstation running Mac OSX86, but I found myself spending more and more time in Mac OS anyways, and for some reason, the virtualization of OSX86 tended to run somewhat poorly on my laptop!

FIRST THOUGHTS

Well, after plopping my $$$'s down for an iPod Touch, I have to say that I was really impressed when my wife picked it up and pretty much took to it right away. For those that don't know my wife, she is not technology-savvy and has the "special gift" of causing gadgets to stop working by just touching them! 

After using it for about a week, I really like the interface. Mail works the way it's supposed to, syncs with my Gmail account through IMAP, the pop server from my restaurant website, and even the Exchange server at my house. Best of all, it pulled all the settings for these from my Mac, meaning that I didn't even have to configure it! The app store has plenty of free apps that were able to replace all the cool gadgets that I had on my Windows Mobile devices, and even had a VNC client that I could use to remote control my Mac and Linux machines! 

The only real disappointment came when I tried to sync my todo list which I keep in iCal on my MacBook Pro and found out that THERE'S NO SUPPORT FOR TO DOS! Apple's solution is to store them on an IMAP server and pull them as part of mail! Huh? Yes, you read that right NO TO DOS on iPhone/iPod Touch. Although the app store has a lot of to-do programs, most of them don't sync with iCal which is how I'd pretty much setup everything which left me with only three options. The first was an app called "Things" which although did sync with iCal, only synced one calendar which is a problem for me because I like to categorize my to dos into multiple calendars on iCal, so that one was pretty much out. The second option was to go back to using my Franklin planner which as mentioned before was over 5lbs. and was already getting unwieldly when I ditched it a few years back. The third was another app called "OmniFocus", which is what I finally settled on. 

OMNIFOCUS

One thing that seems to be a big trend amongst all the new productivity apps is the adoption of David Allen's "Getting Things Done" approach to doing things which is quite different from the Stephen Covey approach of "Big Rocks First". What really kind of got me hooked on OmniFocus was the integration with other Mac apps like Mail where with a hot-key I could quickly add things to my to do list. A quick press of CTRL-OPT-ENTER on a mail item brings up a quick add toolbar where I can quickly add a context , project, and time estimate to handling that mail item. 

NOTHING'S PREFECT (I mean "PERFECT")

There's two drawbacks of using OmniFocus, one technical, one procedural. I'm used to grouping things in "Urgent/Important", "Important", "Urgent", "Everything Else" using the Stephen Covey method. Using the "Getting Things Done" method requires a retraining of my brain to look at things in terms of "Projects" and "Contexts". That said, OmniFocus does add the ability to "Flag" things which I used to add the dimension of importance, meaning that I could still get the same Franklin-style data, but just in a different way which required me to think a little differently. The second, more important drawback is with the sync to iPhone/iPod Touch which requires either a MobileMe or WebDAV server to handle synchronization. MobileMe didn't make much sense to me since all my stuff is backed up through Plaxo for Mac (which is why I was reluctant to give up iCal as my to do list). This left WebDAV as my best option since I figured I could just enable WebDAV on my IIS7 box at home to handle everything. WRONG! As it turns out, the version of WebDAV isn't quite feature complete, sort of. Microsoft's implementation of WebDAV requires an MSI package download from Microsoft as an add-on. The unfortunate part is that for some reason, they didn't implement WebDAV locks which apparently Apple decided it needs in order to write files back to the WebDAV published share. It seems that the locking functionality isn't part of the original WebDAV RFC, so Microsoft in their haste to bring Windows Server 2008 to market, decided to drop that "feature" from their first release of WebDAV! Refusing to be beat, I remembered that Mac OSX had Apache built-in. Five minutes of tinkering with Apache's configuration files and I had a WebDAV server that did support locking and OmniFocus had what it needed to sync with my iPod Touch!

FINAL THOUGHTS

After two weeks with my iPod Touch, I'm really pleased with the user interface experience. As mentioned before, my wife really took to it and could figure out pretty much everything. I really like the Mac-like look and feel and Safari really rocks and is infinitely more usable than Blazer on Palm OS! Not to mention all the great apps like FaceBook, LinkedIn, PageOnce, and others. The most interesting tech that fascinates me is the WiFi based locator technology. I've tried it at various places around the city and it seems to be pretty accurate. Or at least accurate enough to utilize all the location-based apps like Maps and AroundMe! I'm still getting used to the "GTD" way of managing to dos and am hoping that better integration between OmniFocus and iPhone/iPod Touch using BonJour comes pretty soon, but overall, I'm pretty happy with my iPod Touch as a PDA! Now if only I could sync iTunes using WiFi instead of a cable, I'll be set!

Google and Porsche Problems

You gotta love the internet. I've been having a problem with my 2001 Porsche Boxster (my trophy from my dot-com days) where I couldn't always get the key in or out of the ignition to start the darn thing. It's been an annoyance, but I've put up with it for the better part of two years since for the most part, it's been relegated to the status of garage queen. Finally, about a month ago, after my wife and I enjoyed a meal at the good old Olive Garden, the key refused to come out. After "wiggling it" a bit, it finally came out, but for some reason, it stayed in "accessory" mode and left the radio and pretty much anything electrical on. I parked it back in its home, and by the next week when the weather was good, it wouldn't start at all. Dead battery... Well, after a quick call to the nearest Porsche dealer (120 miles away), I got a quote for $700-$800 to have it picked up, fixed, and delivered back to my doorstep. Being unemployed, I didn't really see the need to spend that kind of money for a car I drive maybe once or twice a month, so I did what any IT person would do when they ran across a problem that they couldn't figure out on there own. I "googled" the problem and lo and behold, it's a known problem with all Porsches made between 97-03. An electronic ignition switch that has a plastic head that fails and the steps looked simple enough (or so it seemed). After replacing the faulty plastic window regulator on my Lexus last year, I figured "how hard can it really be"? The only real problem being that Porsche stopped selling the replacement part a few years ago because of the high failure rate, but it happens that Porsche still continues to use VW/Audi parts. A quick look at some of the switches and cup holders in an Audi A4, and it's clear that Porsche sourced them from VW/Audi. So I called up the local VW dealer (only 15 miles away) and had them order the part. Seems that even VW is having problems getting this part because the guy that answered the phone wasn't quite sure he could still order Audi parts. VW yes, Audi not sure since they no longer sold Audis. Anyways, the part took three days to arrive and I started out today by ripping apart the underside of the dash as the "guide" I found on the internet had suggested. Problem #1 arose when it suggested I take out the driver's seat to get better positioning under the dash. Seems that Porsche in their infinite wisdom decided to use "security" bolts that held the seats in place with some kind of "six pointed star" bolt that was really stubborn coming out with a standard hex socket. After checking with neighbors and the local Sears, it seemed that I was out of luck, but was still determined to replace the "electronic ignition switch". Now, I had most of what I needed out of the car and could get to one of the retaining screws that held the switch in, but access to the other was blocked by the driver's side vent that wouldn't seem to come out as easily as the "guide" had suggested. Another quick trip to Google and I found another "guide" on how to actually remove the entire driver's side vent assembly. After dropping the screwdriver a few times, I finally got the driver's side vent out and the tubing that was in the way and I could now get to the other side of the ignition switch and the remaining retaining screw that held the switch in place. After fumbling around and dropping screwdrivers a few more times (once behind the fusebox which necessitated removal of the fusebox just to retrieve my screwdriver!) and I was on my way. Replacing the switch was as simple as unplugging it, removing the retaining screws, and sliding the old one out! After spending another hour or so putting everything back the way it was, I was able to start my baby back up and take it out for a spin. The moral of the story boys and girls is that Google is your friend, regardless of what you're looking for! A quick thanks to George Giggey at industryfigure.com and the folks over at the Renntech.org forums for compiling all the information necessary to complete the task!


Here's what the old part looked like. Kinda looks like dried ketchup stuck in the switch! There was a lot more before I "cleaned" it up! Unfortunately, the camera on my MacBook Pro won't pick it up, but if you were to look closely at it, you'd find the "4 interlocking rings" Audi logo stamped right on the switch!

A Quick Look At VMWare Server 2.0

FIRST LOOK

So I after being mildly underwhelmed with the version 2.0 beta of VMWare Server, I decided to upgrade my primary instance of VMWare server with the production bits in order to start getting more used to the interface. For those that don't know, I've been running VMWare since its inception and was one of the first customers to implement VMWare ESX, helping bring virtualization to my last employer where we immediately saw a $50,000 savings on our deployment of Active Directory and Exchange 2000. Instead of having a standalone client for remote control, VMWare has finally moved away from it and now employs a browser-based plugin for remote access across all of its product lines. It seems that version 2 of VMWare Server was really meant to bring non-ESX customers more in line with the same user experience afforded to ESX/VI customers by providing a web/ajax based interface for configuring and accessing the virtual host. Their implementation seems to work well, but I have to say that performance of the interface is definitely slower using the web console as opposed to the old standalone client. Also of note is the addition of reporting and more granular security options for managing VMWare Server. 

INSTALLATION/UPGRADE

Upgrading the instance on my Ubuntu Hardy-based system was straightforward and consisted of downloading the .tar file, extracting it, then running the installation script. The script found the old installation, removed it, and installed the new version, keeping my old configuration. Certainly a lot easier than installing 1.06 on Ubuntu which required installing kernel header files and having to create symbolic links!

FINAL THOUGHTS

With low cost alternatives in Microsoft's Hyper-V, VirtualIron, and XEN, VMWare certainly has it's hands full trying to innovate, and although I still prefer the older standalone client (call me "old-fashioned!), the new web console certainly is a step in the right direction in terms of providing a more seamless migration path from VMWare Workstation/Fusion to VMWare Server to VMWare ESX Virtual Infrastructure. 

DD-WRT

So my wireless router finally gave out. Having used Linksys routers exclusively at home for almost 10 years, I decided to replace it with a new one. After scouring the local ads, I ran across a Linksys WRT54GS that was on sale at the local WalMart for $39.99. Cool! Ran down and picked one up and rushed home to hookup the new router so I can get back to net surfing! After getting it set up and configured, I remembered a friend of mine telling me about a great firmware replacement for Linksys routers called DD-WRT. I did a web search and found it at www.dd-wrt.com. First, a little bit about DD-WRT. It started off as a bunch of programmers who took the GPL'd source of Linksys' firmware and made improvements, starting off with allowing radius authentication and a few UI improvements and transformed into a whole platform for supporting hotspot revenue generation. Hmmm... More control over my router, and a way to make some money! Well, after re-thinking how much I really want to open up my wireless to my neighbors, I decided to stick with just more control over my router. So, after about 30 minutes of reading/re-reading the install notes and uploading a couple of firmware images to the router, I was finally up and running. What I ended up with was a router with the following:

- 4 Wired Connections
- Secure 802.11b/g wireless access using WPA and MAC filtering (yes, I know you can sniff MAC addresses and spoof them, but I figured it was one more thing to get in the way of nosy neighbors)
- DHCP for all my clients including static address reservation for key devices (This is REALLY nice for my printer!)
- Local DNS using DNSMASQ (this is also REALLY good for name resolution of DMZ machines since I'm a glutton for punishment and use separate name spaces for each subnet and didn't want to put up a server in the DMZ just for DNS!)
- Better QOS and control over my Vonage phone (my Vonage phone kept leaving a bunch of UDP connections open which over time was flooding my LAN, setting the timeouts lower eliminated a lot of that)
- Neato graphs and reports on traffic usage

Overall, I'm very happy with the FREE firmware upgrade to my router. I'm only disappointed that I got the latest version of Linksys router that doesn't support any of the more fully featured versions of DD-WRT.

Note: Newer versions of Linksys routers only support DD-WRT micro which doesn't include IPv6, builtin PPTP Server, builtin OpenVPN server, SNMP, Samba, and a host of other features!