Archive for April 2005
Hallelujah! The Pocket PC Emulator Is Alive Again!
26 April 2005 in Code-ing & Pocket PC | Comments (1)
I’ve been having hard times getting the Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition Pocket PC emulators (and all other versions) working in Visual Studio .NET 2003. I tried my usual remedy of uninstalling “Smart devices support” from both VB.net and C# and restarting, then reinstalling the support — but this time that didn’t solve my problem:
One or more files from the Emulator for Windows CE installation is missing. Please reinstall Emulator for Windows CE and try again.
So, I did a Goo… uhum, I mean a search for the error message and found this:
Workaround: Go to “Device Manager” (Right-click on “My Computer”, select Properties->Hardware and press the “Device Manager” button) and check whether “Virtual PC Application Services” is installed under the System Devices group. If the driver is not installed, install it by running “
\CompactFrameworkSDK\ConnectionManager\Bin\DriverInstall\Smart Devices Emulator.msi”.
I tried it, and lo-and-behold it works instantly! A big thanks goes out to the Open NETCF Wiki where I found the solution! 
New Opera Kicks Ass!
19 April 2005 in Root | Comments (0)
Today, Opera Software released a new version of Opera browser namely, version 8. The new version is so much better and faster than the previous Opera version. Plus, the WordPress “write post” page looks more correct now than previously! *wohoo*
Opera’s website is currently — as I type this to you — bogged down by Opera fans and new downloaders, so you might want to try downloading Opera 8 from this Brazilian mirrors:
ftp://ftp.puc-rio.br/pub/clients/Opera/win/800/en/ow32enen800.exe
You just must try Opera 8 for heaven’s sake! It just is amazingly juicy and packed with nice features. Plus, changing skins happens almost immediately in the latest version, which I like.
Update: Opera’s webpage should be functioning properly now. The bogged down server was probably due to the one million downloads they had in less than 4 days! The CEO will apparently go for a swim from Norway to the US via Iceland in “celebration” of Opera’s new download milestone! 
Public Phones Soon a Shadow of the Past in Finland?
19 April 2005 in Phones | Comments (0)
Finnish Broadcasting Service reported today that all Finnish public phone carriers TeliaSonera and Elisa will start to phase out all remaining public phones and (wired) phone lines. TeliaSonera will cut the cord to the public phones as soon as by the end of this year, and Elisa by the end of this decade.
I’ve been noticing the disappearance of public phones around me ever since the start of the IT boom at the end of the last century. I guess this move was inevitable, but I can’t help but wonder how tourists will relate to our lack of public phones. No wait, I can already see it before my eyes in CIA’s World-book: Finland lacks public phones and as such travelers to Finland should bring their own cell-phone, or buy an used, unlocked cell-phone in Finland for a few euros, and additionally buy a pre-paid GSM subscription for their time in Finland.
Well, we’ll have to see how things will turn out later, I guess. 
I hope that someone of our operators will get inspired by the US operators (was it Verizon, maybe) that turned old public phones into WiFi hotspots. Are you listening Finnet, TeliaSonera and Elisa?
What’s Up Doc?
13 April 2005 in Root | Comments (1)
Nothing much, except much, much school work as is the standard procedure this time of the year. I’ve got lots to code, lots to write and lots to read so that is mainly why I’ve been a no blogger for a few weeks. That and the stomach flu I had a few weeks ago that took another week to recover from. 
I won’t go saying that I will be back now in full force and blogging all over the place, but I will be blogging more and more as we slowly progress towards summer.