"Wireless" Phone Backup using FTP

One of the most interesting things of Android phones, and specifically my HTC Magic, is the possibility to sync every application with the cloud. My contacts are sync with Google contacts, my email is stored on a IMAP server, the Calendar with Google Calendar... most of my Personal Information is thus in sync. This is great in the case you loose your phone or it is stolen as you can recover most of the information easily and without struggling. The only thing I missed (a bit) was the possibility to sync the contents of my microSD Card. The point is that microSD contents is huge, 8Gb, and thus syncing this with the cloud would have a big impact on maintenance cost in any of the webservices offering this (Amazon S3, mainly).

So, I have opted for a cheaper solution and is to use ftp sync while in my home network. The idea is, once I arrive to my home I usually activate Wifi on my phone for browsing and email reading so just installed an small ftp server on the phone, SwiFTP, that is an Open Source project hosted in Google Code. This ftp must be manually activated and is protected with simple username and password. I expect it to continually grow and, why not, have a simple daemon that detects when are you at your home network and when this happens, just activate the ftp server.

Once the server is up and running on the Android phone the backup system must be set up. I am using my Kubuntu home server as the backup system. Basically I have installed curlFTPFS on the Linux server and just mount the ftp connection to the Android phone as an additional local folder. The backup space is protected with Truecrypt on the computer so I have to mount two different folders, the ftp server on ~/android and the encrypted volume on ~/androidbak. Once these two volumes are mounted I can use the superb rsync linux tool to sync them unattended and keeping only the files in my Android phone.

Next step is to automatize all that stuff as much as possible: Automatically setting up the server when arriving at home and mounting the volumes in the backup system, as well as scheduling the backup to be perform without noticing, maybe at night when charging the phone. But this is something I am still working on and hope soon to get along with it.

The most impressive thing about all that is everything I needed was Open Source and set up in a couple of hours... this is simplification!!!

Android Phone (& Development)

As I introduced several weeks ago, actually before enjoying a two weeks vacation that preceded a period of huge workload and social demands ;-) I have become a convert to Android. It was tough at the beginning to move from Symbian, first the 6120 and afterwards the superb N95, to Android. Actually I still miss the N95 Carl Zeiss lens camera, but the HTC Magic, thanks to Android, is such a versatile device that I usually forget about taking pictures :-/

The point is that I barely used the device that I borrowed from my work for the vacation in the US, mainly because I purchased a T-Mobile pre-paid card that you must know has no data plan, so you can not use it to connect to the Internet from the device. I should have bought a AT&T pre-paid that does have the service. I purchased the SIM in a small bazaar in Broadway, so no complains ;-)
But after been back of this awesome travel around the north-east of the US it was my birthday and I was given an HTC Magic. Nice present!

From that time I started to investigate it and I must say that I'm impressed on how fast is evolving all the stuff related with Android. Thousands of applications just do what you need to do and one of the most interesting things, most of them are for free and not under the strict control of an omnipotent Apple. Of course you have premium versions of some of them, but you have a broad selection of Open Source applications that you may contribute to improve. One of the first things I did is change Gmail client by K-9 client for my IMAP account... and it was so straightforward and well integrated that I almost forgot about Gmail. One of the things I have not found solution yet is a Open Source application to store encrypted notes and sync them with a service in the cloud. Anyhow I will continue trying. One of my dreams is to have a Truecrypt driver for on-the-fly encryption of the microSD. It would be nice to be able to encrypt the information in the microSD and just to unplug it, put it in an adapter connected to a PC and access the sensitive information easily.

In any case the next step is to install a "hacked" build of Android on my HTC. It is a bit tricky but from my early investigations I must say that does not seem impossible. Just hope to have some time in brief to invest some effort and who knows, maybe get an Android build of cupcake supporting STK Menu, feature not included by Vodafone!!

From Palm Vx to Nokia N95. First Round

I have been evaluating what I am actually using on the Palm Vx and thus I would like to continue working on the N95. Beside applications like TinySheet or Adobe Reader, that I eventually used but were "optional" applications, the main functions and features I need and like are:

• Contacts
• Categories
• Search
• Notes
• Notes
• Categories
• Confidential Records
• Calendar-Agenda
• Repeating Events
• History
• Synchronisation
• ToDo
• Categories

I will start by the first, contacts. Of course, is the natural first application you use of your mobile phone. The thing I like most from the Palm application was the possibility to distinguish between categories (Personal, Professional, Restaurants...), to be able to search by any field, just clicking on the search button and finally the possibility to add notes linked to the contacts.

From my first exploration of the possibilities, I am able to export from the Palm Desktop software the contacts in vCard format version 2.1 (.vcf files). Then, I import them directly in the Contacts manager of the PC Suite and just synchronize with the handset. It imports successfully all the fields that I have defined in my contacts but unfortunately it is not able to manage the categories and I although I have found a good way to search the contacts, it does not look for all the fields (for instance the email).
The only workaround I have found for the categories issue is to use groups of contacts to distinguish them, but they are not backed up so this information is lost afterwards when synchronizing.
I must recognize that the search is fast enough and that the contacts manager of the PC Suite is nice, but the Palm Desktop way of managing contacts is quite better!!!

Palm 1 - Nokia 0. I will continue investigating...

My new N95

I have just acquired a Nokia N95. It cost me around 180? and a contract for 18 months with my present provider (Vodafone). I think it is a good deal as although it is a year old handset, it is still considered one of the best from Nokia. Anyhow, the path to this phone is quite long.

First of all I must declare that I was an Anti-Nokia guy. I do not like the brands that achieve a big market share because they usually have not very good behaviors. This way of thinking was also propelled by a disastrous Nokia 6288 that drove me crazy for a long time, with frequents restarts and things that never worked. Finally, some months ago, I was given a brand new 6120c by my friend. I was skeptical but it was an affordable HSDPA enabled phone and it served as a device for connecting to Internet when traveling with my laptop. I reserved it to this only use, but the continuous problems that the 6288 gave me forced me to start using the 6120c as an everyday phone. Then I discovered the Opera Mini browser, the Symbian s60 OS, the easiness of use... and I became a convert. But, there is always a but, then I spend some holidays in Portlligat and I was take a picture with my feed in the water and my hand in my pocket. The problem was that when I took the hand out of the pocket the 6120c came with it and fall into the Mediterranean...

So, I had to acquire a phone. I am an old user of a Palm Vx. I bought it more than 8 years ago and I have been using it because is the only PDA that I have found reliable and usable. I have tried some Windows-based and they have never convinced me to make the switch. I had and iPhone for some time and although I found it really usable and of a superb design and performance, the fact that it was a proprietary system really dislikes me. So, after the positive feedback from the Symbian S60 and the need to join the PDA into a phone, I decided for the N95 because the affordable price. The only thing that rests unsolved, by the moment, is the text entry question. With the Palm Vx I was used to the graffity writing, so, when I had to enter data I just wrote it down the screen. For longer uses I had a foldable keyboard that was also very helpful. The N95 has not touchscreen and the only fast way to write data is to tap it with the predictive software. Notwithstanding I am trying to get a Bluetooth foldable keyboard for when I am traveling.

I will try to analyze and describe the migration steps in the blog as if it is useful for future users doing the same step.

GPhone, OHA and the SIM

Some days ago the announcement of Google entry in the Mobile Business made real the rumors on the GPhone. Finally it is not going to be a physical handset but a software platform. It is business as usual for Google, but we have to thing that selling hardware is not estrange for Google as their Google Enterprise servers are installed worldwide and come from them!
The first thing that surprises from the Google announce is the fact that it is an Alliance. Android, a company bought by Google some time ago, will be the base for the platform, but the Open Handset Alliance, as it is called, has more than 30 members and I am sure that it will grow up in time. Secondly, it is about openness. No software, as far as I remember, is open. It is free for private use, but not open. Neither the Engine nor Google Earth are open source applications. They are proprietary but for free use by particulars. I guess is an important bet from Google to go in the way of openness.
Another interesting thing is that big worldwide operators like Telefonica and T-Online are in the Alliance. This boosts the possibilities of it to a higher level as a handset without a network is a very disturbing thing. Additionally, my opinion is that the intentions of Google for bidding on the new frequencies auction of the United States has been a way to press the operators to join the Alliance. Google, as far as I imagine, is not going to enter the telecom world, it would make all the other operators in the world, far more than a thousand, in its competitors, not its partners, as recently has been seen with Vodafone.
And if the operators are in... who will protect their information? The SIM card seems the natural way, as has been in the GSM-3G networks, and I think it will be. Than SIM card is a security token that belongs to the operator and so, it decides what is inside it. Information for authentication, service applications, user information like the phonebook, everything is at the reach of them. This fact has been a boost for the growth of the mobile market in Europe, and one of the important points in the leading of Europe in the Mobile Industry, and it will continue this way. The question I have is, will it be the preferred security token for the user? In an open platform based handset the probability of virus, malware, sniffing, scamming growths exponentially, so will be the worry of the user for security. If the SIM cards positions itself, with the help of the operators, as a useful and trustworthy security token for the user and third parties, then its life will be long. If not, it will be replaced by a broad number of dedicated and proprietary tokens that will partially do the role the SIM card can play in this future. Personally I am pessimistic... why? Just think in the number of ID, credit, frequent traveler and loyalty cards you carry in your wallet.

FTP or SAMBA

I have at present two laptop computers at home. One, the oldest, runs Windows XP and is used basically for office applications and Internet browsing. The other, that a year old, has also XP installed, as was out-of-the-box, and Kubuntu Feisty Fawn that runs the torrent client and I use for almost everything I must do. I'm at present evaluating the possibilities to join them through the WLAN in a network where to share files and resources. As they are laptops and have no printer I haven't thought about it till now. Anyhow, I guess that the possibility to exchange files between the two laptops and make backups of information to the 250GB external HD I also have could be a great point that would pay the effort. What I'm not yet absolutely sure is if I must set up and maintain a true network system, with shares, smb clients, user accounts... or just put an ftp server to the WXP laptop through which I can transfer simply files from one computer to the other. Another option would be to set a VNC server on each computer and connect to the other if I must do anything and transfer the information always from the windows computer acting as a client to the built-in Linux ftp server... I'll think a bit on it and see what I finally decide!

Bicingadget

Today when I was having a shower (I know, it's an strange place to have an idea, or maybe not?) I started to think in an status screen where useful information at this time in the morning may be showed. The kind of issues I was thinking where the number of available bikes in the nearest bicing station, weather, trains schedule, traffic information... the kind of information news program give in the morning but more personalized. Once in the office, I opened firefox and my iGoogle page appeared and I thought... why not? I've just found a place where I kind find some of this information, in fact the one on the bicing station, and I expect this weeked to start working on the gadget development... Lets see if it works!

Electronic Medical Prescription

Recently I've been reading a lot on programs started to achieve the possibility of Electronic Prescription (EP) in medical environments. It's interesting how something technically so near and available may take a lot of time to reach us. Technically an EP is just an electronic document signed and digitally processed... and its that complicate.
First of all we are talking about an issue that has had a lot of discussion around it: Medical Information. From a lot of time ago Medical Information and the Medical Record is one of the most zelously kept tresures. Laws are really tough in what can you do even with your own Medical Record. It's understandable then that EP has a lot to overcome on Personal Data Management Policys.
Because that, recently have been a bit of polemics around it. I'm sure finally we all will take with us our medical information, if not because it can save our lives, simply because it will be easy and secure enough to assure our compromised information will not be revealed to we don't want to.