Vodafone ADSL

I have recently moved to a new apartment in Barcelona so I had to "move" also my Internet connection. I have also a Huawei e156 modem with a Simyo SIM card that I use for having Internet while On the Go, so I had no struggle about been without Internet connection at home. In any case, and luckily I must add, the change of ADSL connection from one apartment to the other was not difficult at all. Luckily because when I contacted Tele2 for the change, they informed me about the need to pay around 80? for this change. But, as the product I had, only ADSL connection, without phone, was not available anymore, I had to change the product contracted or... I could finish my contract even though I had a 18 months compulsory contract.
This was the first good news, but then they informed that they had promotion with Vodafone, as Tele2 Spain is now owned by Vodafone Spain, so I could change the service to a more complete pack, with fix phone and a flat rate in fix phone calls, for roughly the same price and without having to pay one euro for the installation, I accepted without doubt.
I started the process beginning February so I was supposed to receive the router around a week after. At the end the shipment was delayed because a shortage of routers (I was informed), so I received the wifi router about a week ago, but one of the most interesting things about the Vodafone solution is that the router comes with two ways of connecting to Internet: Through ADSL but also through HSPA. And the point is that even though I had not ADSL connection yet I could use for a week or so the HSPA connection from my router and with a nice download speed of about 4Mbps.
Now I have the ADSL connection and the speed has been improved to 6Mbps downlink and almost 1Mbps uplink, and the HSPA connection is there as a backup solution in case the ADSL link fails.
So, at the end it took around three weeks to have the ADSL connection up and running again at my new apartment, but the struggle of been without Internet is not a must anymore when moving!

"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!!!

Finally, Giesecke & Devrient contributes to Android!

Well, after some months of work, G&D has finally gone public on the project that it was developing on Android platform. As can be checked in the press release the contribution consists on code that enables any Android based phone with a microSD card slot (all of them, for the time being) to use a special microSD with a SmartCard embedded on it (check more info about the Mobile Security Card) to deploy security enhanced applications with the use of hardware Security Elements.
But this is only a start point as, it can be checked in this document, several SE may be added in the future... so if you have a good idea or want to work on that project just visit the Google Code page of the Secure Element Evaluation Kit (SEEK)!!

Debugging in Android

The first thing I did after my first steps developing on Android was to change the SPL. The SPL is commonly known as the bootloader, that is, is intended to load the image of the Operative System to the flash memory of the device. I followed the instructions presented in my previous post and updated my HTC Magic (Saphire) with the Engineering SPL 1.33.2010. The original SPL was the one that is shipped on Vodafone Spain Magics, HBOOT-1.33.0004(SAPP10000).

After doing these change I was able even to load Boot images and thus run unsigned images of Android on my HTC. Superb!

Now, what I want to do is to start debugging applications on my HTC. First of all I had to enable App Debugging in the Android Device: On the device, go to the home screen, press MENU, select Applications > Development, then enable USB debugging.

Second, you have to make the application debuggable. To do that, you will have to add the following property to the application element of the manifest.xml:

android:debuggable="true"

Next, just connect the Device to the computer, check with adb that the device is detected, and run the application. It will immediately run the application on your device, it is indeed that easy!

Next step, is to build applications with a custom Image of Android... will come soon!

Developing on Android

Well, who was going to think more than two years ago that I was going to write a post with that title... Finally the time has come and even though there are several places where you can find a how-to guide to develop on Android, I will try to present in the following posts how "I managed" to set up and start developing on Android platform.

My pre-requirements at present are: Windows XP Home SP3 AMD 64bits laptop, a Vodafone Spain HTC Magic and some microSD cards. From this start point first step is to set up the development environment. For that I will follow the following steps:

1. Download SDK
2. Download Eclipse
3. Install Eclipse (unzip folder)
   
4. Start Installation (Slight differences with Galileo release of Eclipse)
5. HelloWorld Application to check that everything is OK

After this 5 steps I have been able to run in the emulator the HelloWorld Application. Now I am going to try to attach the Magic to the Dev Environment. I will follow the steps in this nice how-to for HTC Saphire (Aka Magic):

1. Install the Drivers and HTC Sync Program
   
2. Run "adb devices" command successfully

Next step has been writting a backup of my present Android. To do that I just dowloaded the corresponding recovery ROM (following this instructions): RAv1.2.1H
After downloading I did a fastboot (that is booting from the image in the PC without writing anything to the Flash of the phone) and did the backup, that is stored in the SD card. This backup will be stored for future need to recover ;-)

So, for the moment I am done, I have the possibility to fastboot ROMs in my android. Next steps will be changing the SPL and actually writing new and unsigned ROMs to the flash of the phone!

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!!

Android Phone

Finally, after talking a little bit about it I have the for the first time a Google phone in my hands.
Some months ago I had a HTC Dream locked to T-Mobile thanks to a friend, but I had no T-Mobile USA enabled SIM card to play with it so I had to be happy with "emulating" one and been able to play with the Wifi connection. I any case it was a nice experience and my first impression was that it was a nice OS, even though the handset was a bit bricky.

Now I have a HTC Magic unlocked phone, even though it is VF Germany branded, to play with it in my two weeks vacation in the States. I plan to acquire a prepaid SIM card and use it to access to Internet while travelling. I will travel also with my N95 but VF Spain roaming rate makes it very difficult to really explode it.
So, hopefully in some weeks I will have a brief report of my experience that I will be able to share here.

My new Dell Mini 9

Finally I did it and bought a fancy Dell Mini: 9? screen, 8Gb SSD and 1Gb RAM, accompanied by a megapixel Webcam, Bluetooth and Wifi connectivity and running Windows XP. What about WWAN? No way, the standard model from Dell website comes without one. Not only it comes without the Mini-PCI card but also lacks of the slot. I bought it barely used through eBay and it was a big deal for 170 euros. At the same time I bought a WWAN card for it, that cost me around 100 euros, before knowing that the Dell Mini had not the Mini-PCI slot. Now I know and what is more important, I know how to install one on the Wifi slot and connect an embedded USB Wifi on it. You can check how on this video.

So, once I realized I could not install the WWAN card on my Dell Mini I had to sell the card. Fortunately I did it for almost the price I paid for it, so now I am looking for the suitable WWAN card that may fit inside my Mini's back. Why do I want 3G connectivity? Well, I have used 3G external USB modems for some time with my laptop, and it was great, but with the Mini I can not imagine sitting on the train with the tiny netbook connected to an external modem. It breaks all the aesthetics of the Mini and most of the times I would forget the modem at home. As I commented some time ago I use a Simyo connection when I am traveling for pleasure, so I need an unlocked WWAN card in order to configure it to work with my Simyo. The other possibility I am considering is buying a Huawei e156 USB Modem and try to take the cover out, sold the USB PINs to the corresponding of the Mini-PCI slot and put it all under the back cover of the Mini. As soon as I have more info on the solution I will post it here.

The use of the Mini is great, it fits everywhere, weights around 1 kilo and the charger is slightly bigger of one of a mobile phone. For me this is an important point because if you have a 1 kilo netbook but the charger weights half a kilo it loses part of its sense! The battery performs well, although it does not reach the announced 4 hours, it is enough for a 3h+ flight from Tenerife to Barcelona. As you can check on the image it is great to work with it on the plane (even if you don't fly business ;-) ) so is ideal to bring it anywhere.

Mobile World Congress 2009, Barcelona

It is again here. The MWC 2009, the Congress of the Crisis, starts tomorrow. Today I have been in the booth as to check that everything was working correctly and I had a first impression of what was going in there. A lot of workers setting up the stands and changes in the presence of some exhibitors.
I will be in the G&D booth (Hall 8, Stand 8B65) these days and will try to meet as many people as I can and get first hand information of the industry. Forecasts say that there will be a fall in the number of visitors and also in the days of stay. Hope they are not very big and the Congress and the Exhibition keep the leading role they have in the Industry.
On the organisation, unfortunately this year was not included along the badge the four day ticket to use the public transportation system. Hope it is the only reduction in the reasonably good job that was done in the previous years and that the congress is celebrated here for some more years.

I will keep posting on the results from the MWC2009!

The MSc Thesis

The day arrived and last Monday I presented my master's thesis. It has been a long and tough way but now I'm happy with the result and with the stages that come along. Of course, I could do a better job if more time would have been available, but as mi adviser told me, it overtakes the standards of the task :-o . Nevertheless, this does not end here. Some opportunities have appeared now to apply the methodology and results to my day to day work and also positive perspectives arise on the academic field. A PhD? It is too early to know and I have promised my partner a period of relative rest.
Anyhow, and although this blog was started for the master, I hope to continue posting here the highlights (and down-lights) of my work, the random thoughts and the silly ideas that may appear in the future.

Mission (partly) accomplished!

The thesis work is more than fifty pages long and partly boring ;-) It is available here, and released under Creative Commons license, so if you enroll on having a look do it under your own responsibility, you are warned! Just kidding, any feedback is highly welcomed.

I post here the Abstract

The SIM card: An exercise of Technology Watch chasing state of the art and new opportunities.

The SIM card has become, thanks to its embedding in Mobile Handsets of GSM and other systems, the permanent companion of the subscriber and the more spread Smart Card of the world. In this work an exercise of TechnologyWatch has been done on the developments around the SIM Card along with a theoretical and literature review on the TW process. Technology Watch, and the broad concept of Competitive Intelligence, are introduced from a scholarlypoint of view and a review of literature on TW from the year 2003 to the present is done. This Theoretical Framework is then put on test with a Case Study about the SIM Card.
Using sources and data at three levels: Research, Development and Innovation and having in mind the corpus of the Technology Watch discipline, an analysis is done finding interesting knowledge, qualitative and quantitative, on the recent past and present development of the SIM card. This information is also used to do some prospect on the subject.
Some of the findings have been to identify the main publications at the research level, the Relevant International Patent Classifications and interesting sources for Market analysis for SIM Development. Moreover, a list of Institutions and Companies working in the subject is provided as well as the 2008 more published topics in the industry. The system and techniques used to do all this process are also described in detail.
This work is a start point in order to construct a system for continuous environmental scanning on SIM card developments as to detect weak signals and early trends to take advantage of them. Thus, it must be considered as a seminal work of a broader approach to Technology Watch in the SIM card business. It may be of interests of scholars, because the broad review on the literature, as well as practitioners, because the practical orientation of the Case Study, and managers of related industries because the information extracted from the data analysed.

Wikis

The year is started and once the first part of my Master Thesis is written, I do a pause to write a brief post about Wikis. I'm a strong supporter of Wikis. Not only of the servers themselves but also of Wiki Philosophy: Collaboration, Openness, Control... Control? Yes, Control, I really think that the versioning system of Wikis is very powerful and enables control about what is published, when and by whom. Would be Wikipedia possible without editorial control?
I have found an interesting whitepaper from a site that talks about Wikis. Although it is a commercial Whitepaper I found it quite interesting. Particularly some parts like these excerpts:

Though the type of wiki employed may differ from company to company, the types of tasks for which wikis are used are basically the same. Specifically, daytoday usage of the application typically falls into the following three categories:

Project Management

• Wikis may be used as a central repository for capturing constantly updated product features and specifications
• Wikis may provide a central repository for simple issue tracking and resolution
• The iterative nature of wikis allow team members to track thedevelopment history of projects over time
  

Collaboration

• Internally, wikis allow simple text-based collaboration on internal documents such as company guidelines, reports, and productspecifications
• Externally, wikis are useful for collaboration with customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders on key business documents and ongoing projects
  

Knowledge Management

• Because wikis can be easily updated by anyone in the organization, wide-ranging company documents, such as guidelines and FAQs are more easily kept accurate and up-to-date

Actually in the R&D department of my company is used for the 3 purposes. Interisting also these comments about evaluating the value of Wikis in the enterprise, that i find true but quite dangerous ;-)

In assessing the potential impact of wikis, one might do well to take a lesson
from the early days of e-mail. Although many tried to detail the cost savings
associated with e-mail by measuring the related reductions in postage, increases
in worker productivity, and various other metrics, these estimates paled in
comparison to the actual value brought by e-mail itself. This major discrepancy
occurred primarily because e-mail ultimately changed the way people worked,
not just how they exchanged documents.

You can find the whole document here.

Rural Internet

As I have commented in previous post I have switched my Telefonica ADSL connection to Tele2 and also have a flat rate with my Vodafone N95 so I can access my mail, facebook and all when on the road. Anyhow, when I travel on Holidays with my laptop, I have a Simyo SIM card to connect to the Internet and browse full screen and access some services that are quite uncomfortable to do it from the N95 screen.
Simyo offers a prepaid rate for 1? per day that is great for sporadic use, like mine. Just have to do a recharge every six months, from 10?, and that's all! Additionally Simyo uses the Orange Spain radio network to offer their services and, I think, maximun bandwidth is 3,6 Mbps, so it is a full HSDPA service.
Beside this, and as the idea of this post, is to introduce the test speed I have done where I am at present spending Christmas Holidays. After a week in Tenerife, I am in Touro. If you don't know where it is, don't worry, Google Maps does the job. It is a small town in the middle of rural Galicia. This territory is quite difficult to deploy good landline coverage so Mobile Internet is quite a good solution. Since I have been coming regularly to this place I have lived the different evolutions of the Mobile Networks services. From simple GSM circuit data services, limited to 9,6 kbps in early 2000's, to first GPRS deployments, UMTS and HSDPA. Anyhow, at present I am using a simple 3G Motorona E770v phone to connect, so bandwidth is theoretically limited to 430Kbps on the downlink. After the test, with full coverage indicated by the handset, I got the following values

They are not that bad, actually is like an early ADSL (256-64Kbps... remember? :-) ) and allow me to browse quite conveniently so I think it's a great and low cost solution to access to the Internet sporadically in a simple way.

SIM Machine

Today, at Luton Airport in London, I have found an interesting machine. It was a regular automatic can selling machine but instead of Coke cans it contained SIM cards and SIM Accessories! From cards of several European and Middle East operators, to a TurboSIM to unlock Nokia phones and SIM carriers...

This is one of the possibilities that the SIM card enabled and unleashed in the past, even without knowing, but that empower the mobile phones use and that increase the possibilities of users, and also of operators in most of cases, of using the technology to the most convenience for them.

One of the things that surprised me more was a SIM card of Orange Spain on sale in the machine. The point is that in Spain before buying a SIM card you must present your ID card and register it, so you can not be an anonymous user of a mobile phone for security reasons. This regulation stem from the Madrid bombings in 2004. Because this I wonder whether you can use the machine bought card directly from it or you have to do a previous activation in a physical shop in Spain, what would take convenience to the buy of the SIM card in the Airport...

Another of the most suprising items was the TurboSIM to unlock the Nokia phones... This simple device has become a common device and now not only Geeks use it to use their branded iPhone with whatever carrier!

GSMA Mobile Asia Congress news

These days the Mobile Asia Congress of the GSM Association is been held in Macau. From the first speeches some interesting news extracted from the Mobile Business Briefing of the GSMA:

GSMA CEO: Digital Dividend key to future growth
GSMA CEO Rob Conway used his opening keynote address at the GSMA Mobile Asia Congress yesterday to call on governments around the world to free up further Digital Dividend spectrum for mobile use. Conway said that further mobile use of the spectrum ? which is becoming available due to the shift from analogue to digital TV ? would be a "major economic stimulus" that could help governments address the current global financial crisis. "Broadcasters have plenty of spectrum and using some of that spectrum for wireless is far more efficient and a much bigger boost to the economy than any TV channel," he said. "We all know the studies which show how mobile can increase GDP."
Conway added that the success of mobile broadband had meant that new spectrum is required to meet capacity demands and noted that future mobile standards such as LTE will also benefit from the new airwaves. "LTE depends on harmonised spectrum and LTE is the future," he said. Citing GSMA research, Conway said that network costs in lower frequencies such as 700MHz are around seven times cheaper than 3.5GHz, making network expansion into rural areas more economically viable and ensuring greater 'in-building' coverage. "The lower the harmonised frequency band, the greater the incentive for investing in LTE networks," he said. Conway hailed the recent decisions in France and Switzerland to make Digital Dividend spectrum in the 790-862MHz frequency band available for mobile use, but criticised the situation in Spain, which is allowing broadcasters to block the release of Digital Dividend for mobile. Elsewhere in his address, Conway pledged his support for measures aimed at increasing network efficiencies and reducing costs, such as network sharing between operators, and the deployment of energy efficient base stations.

And another one on NFC (Near Field Communications):

GSMA pushes for NFC handsets
The GSMA has called for full Near Field Communications (NFC) functionality to be built into commercially available handsets from mid-2009. Such a move would give a big boost to mobile payment services, it said. The Association's board also announced its support for the 'Single Wire Protocol' (SWP) standard that defines the interface between a mobile phone?s SIM card and its embedded NFC chipset. It is the NFC chip which communicates with contactless readers so users can make financial transactions over short distances, for instance using a debit or credit card to buy small items in a convenience store or a ticket on public transport.
A number of mobile operators are already conducting trials of NFC services as part of the GSMA's Pay-Buy-Mobile initiative. The GSMA claimed that the trials ? being conducted by nine operators, including South Korea's KTF, and Taiwan's FarEastone, in eight countries ? have already shown a growing consumer demand for mobile payment services. Further trials are planned by 15 operators in 14 countries. Encouraging results from Taiwan found that 90 percent of people felt positive toward the new service, whilst over 90 percent of triallists in France said they found contactless mobile payment convenient, fast and easy to use. This latest development follows issue of a detailed Device Requirement document by the GSMA in July to a wide range of vendors and suppliers in the Pay-Buy-Mobile ecosystem. The GSMA revealed that 37 key players responded, giving an understanding of the core requirements for any SWP/NFC device.

More information in Mobile Asia Congress website and the GSMA official page.

Tele2 (and Telefónica)

Last Wednesday, when I arrived home my Internet service was down. As I received an SMS from Tele2 informing that I should install the router once I lose my ADSL connection, I connected my new router. Of course, it did not work. A tried to go back and put my old ADSL router, but it did not work either. Not even the phone.
So it finally happened. I was without ADSL connection at home. Luckily, I own a Simyo card and thus I am not without Internet connection, although the pure 3G connections was a bit slow. The fact is that it is quite inconvenient to pay for a service and not to receive it.
Thursday morning I called Tele2 and they told me that this is an illegal practice by Telefonica and that I should complain because I should receive my former service until I am switched to the new one... I decided not to do so and loose hours hung of the phone talking with a telephone operators that has not too many possibilities to help me and just hope that, as promised when I signed for the Tele2 service, in 25 days I would have my ADSL service up.
Finally, on Saturday morning I received the redemptive SMS informing that my ADSL service was activated. I connected the router and started browsing!!
My happiness was short because when I did a speed test the results were not very impressive. The connection is more or less performing like the 3Mb line I had with Telefonica as can be seen in the following test results.



It improves the upload speed, that for the 3Mb "Duo" was of 320Kbps, but the download speed is more or less the same. The promised bandwidth in the Tele2 offer was 20Mbps, I was sure this was not been going to be achieved, but I expected a connection speed of around 8Mb.
The conditions of the DSL connection are not bad:

noise margin downstream: 15 db
noise margin upstream: 17 db
attenuation downstream: 39 db
attenuation upstream: 26 db

And following this article the connection should achieve ~11Mb.

So, to conclude this series of posts, a summary.

The timeline has been:
1st of October 2008 at 23:50. Started the migration process in the Tele2 website and received an email of confirmation stating that the process would take around 25 days.
6th of October 2008 at 19:36 Received an SMS stating that the process was already started and I would receive the Wifi Router at home in brief.
7th of October Received a letter with the contract inside to be returned to Tele2.
8th of October Returned it signed.
20th of October Received the Router package at home and an SMS informing that I have to connect and installed it when my present service goes down.
22nd of October Lose the Telefonica service
23rd of October I call Tele2 to complaint because the lost of service. They inform me that it has not been yet activated.
25th of October at 08:40 I received a SMS saying that my service is up. I connect the modem and it works!!

Indeed, 24 days after requesting the service I had my service up and running!
Speed is not impressive, but it overperforms my previous service with Telefonica.
Price is the most competitive offer out there. It halves my previous payments to Telefonica.

So, I think that the change has been good... and will work to improve the speed complaining to Tele2... to be continued ;-)

Tele2 (II)

Today I have received the Wifi Router and the documentation for the setting up of my new Internet connection. Not so bad, 19 days after the request via the website. Anyhow, I have not received any call from my present provider, Telefonica, as to make me a counteroffer... I thought I would receive such a call as I received it when I was switching from Movistar to Vodafone in my mobile phones service.
As the planned timeline to switch was 25 days I expect to receive the SMS indicating that the service has been successfully started withing 6 days...

Bradford Robotic Telescope and eyeOS

Well, while I wait for my switch to Tele2 from Telefonica, I have discovered some things in the Internet world. One of them is the Bradford Robotic Telescope. A fully automated installation in the Teide Observatory that gives support to students all around the world in order to explore the night sky. Beside its scientific and pedagogic interest it has a page where the webcams that are in the observatory continuously show the state of its surroundings. One of the cams gives a night vision of the Teide from Izaña, the mount where the Teide observatory is set on. Each day they generate a video with the pictures taken. The one from Yesterday night is quite breathtaking because some high altitude clouds. Just have a look to it and enjoy!



The other thing I recently discovered, well actually rediscovered as I heard about them a year a half ago, is eyeOS. A web OS system founded by a Catalan guy that can be downloaded and set up on any Apache-PHP5 enabled machine. I installed mine and am evaluating it... my next step is to access from the Internet and my mobile phone while on the go!!!

Tele2

Some days ago I started the process of changing my present Internet Service Provider. I was receiving this service from Telefónica, but after more than one year (the minimum time you have to be with them after a "free" installation of a fixed line) and the announcement that the 3Mb ADSL only would be upgraded to the 6Mb service after paying for the Antivirus service, even if you do not need it, I decided to quit from Telefónica and move to another provider. My election has been Tele2. It is quite a competitive offer, 29,9? for 20Mb ADSL without fixed line support. It cuts my present spending with Telefónica by a half, as I am paying around 62? for a 3Mb ADSL, fixed line and national calls for free. As I do not need a fixed number as I do not use it anymore I guess that is a great offer. Actually I am able to pay the ADSL, the Vodafone Mobile broadband and half my mobile bill for the same I was paying for a 3Mb ADSL formerly. Tele2 has not been a very valued ISP, but I guess that the recent acquisition by Vodafone will give them a better service for the customers. Additionally I expect a good offer for a dual or triple play service soon.

I must say that I have not the service already activated, but I will leave track of the process in the Blog as to be helpful to other users doing the same path.

I started the migration process in the Tele2 website on the 1st of October 2008 at 23:50. I received an email of confirmation stating that the process would take around 25 days.
On the 6th of October 2008 at 19:36 I received an SMS stating that the process was already started and I would receive the Wifi Router at home in brief.
Today, 7th of October, I have received a letter with the contract inside to be returned to Tele2. I will return it signed tomorrow.

Well, up today this is everything I have to say... will continue, hope so!!

Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona and NFC

Last Friday, while I was going to watch a cinema movie to Gràcia, I was shocked after what I watch underground. As can be seen in the following pictures, in Universitat Underground station there is an access barrier that is activated with NFC... this has been a big surprise because I have not found any official announcement in the net, but they have installed this access barrier and also a "recharge point" near the ticketing machines...






It does not seem supported by any mobile operator, as the logos and information there was unbranded. I guess they are using Nokia 6131 NFC enabled phones that does not use the SIM card for storing the sensitive data but an "embedded chip" that is inside the handset and managed over-the-air... will continue investigating.

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.

Google Chrome (or Chromium)

Recently has been released the Google Chrome, the new google application that is going to give them the control of the world. Just kidding, this new web browser is quite awesome. I downloaded it 10 minutes after it was made available and start working with it. 

The first thing I missed where my delicious plugin that I use frequently on Firefox, but this has been easily solved. Just with some Bookmarklets (small pieces of javascript code bookmarkable) I already have the buttons. Now just need to configure the keyboard shortcuts.

The second thing I missed was Portability. I actually use the portable version in all my Windows computers, on Linux the regular one suffices, because I am able to sandbox everything to a directory: No registry, no hidden folders... As Google Chrome source has been released also as Open Source with a BSD license, tons of developers are workin on this. Actually, the day after the publication of the browser, the first version of Chrome Portable was made available. And it rocks! I am at present using it and I guess is going to replace my Firefox Portable implementations in a brief time... 

The only thing that scared me was the Google Terms of use that you have to accept before using the Google Chrome executable... but thanks to Chromium and the BSD license you can get rid of it easily!

Summer

This must be the most used post title in the present days... actually this and "The end of the Summer". Finally, August is over and the time to start again at cruise speed with all the duties is here. Tomorrow, September 1st., it will be the time to get all the ToDos that we step aside in July and retake them to see that they are not yet over.
For me August was pretended to be a prolific month where I could advance in my work for the MSc. Thesis, but unfortunately it has turned to be a demanding time from my work in order to get along with all the duties from the different customers. Anyhow, some work could be done and I have advanced in the preparation of a paper on the sources used for my work. Moreover, I had the opportunity to read some books interesting for my work in the Thesis and in G&D.
Hope soon to get at this cruise speed and get on with the hot fall that comes along!!

UOC revisited

Some days ago I wrote about the UOC, this Open University that inspires me and leads me to get my MSc. in Knowledge and Information Society. I must say that I was totally wrong. What I interpreted from my tutor explanations and what he really meant had nothing to do. I thought as the university realized that a 12 week period for developing a MSc. Thesis work was to short time to do it when working full time and because that they gave us the opportunity to finish the thesis in a longer period without having to enroll again and pay the tuition fee.

I was wrong as I said. Not only I have to pay again the tuition fee but I have not been able to enroll and keep the access to the restricted contents of the library... really sad. Luckily I am member of the Old Students of the University of Barcelona, where I studied my degree in physics, and keep the access to the materials of this library.

So, after a year and a half of moderate satisfaction with the UOC, I am really disappointed because they bad way to manage this issue.

UOC

The UOC is the Open University of Catalonia. Its method, based on distance and online learning is sometimes hard to cope with, but it is flexible enough to adapt to your time availability. This is sometimes bad, as can make you relax, but is a powerful tool when you are highly motivated!

In the MSc on Knowledge and Information Society they have made possible to finish the MSc Thesis in two semesters... even for the ones that have started it in the previous semester, and without having to enrol (and pay!) again.

I was convinced of the method, but now I am convinced of the institution ;-)

Summer

It looks like when one is approaching the summer, this time of warm and light, work becomes harder and thoughts fuzzier... anyhow it is a good time for reflection and born of new ideas.

Finally I will not be able to finish the Master Thesis before summer so I will continue it from September on. Notwithstanding the possibility to work on it this summer is exciting and I hope I will be able to invest some work time and resources on it and bring some light to my Thesis work...

Magic Black Box

As I previously introduced, for the Austrian last business travel I prepared a device as to impress my colleagues ;-) From this aim resulted the Magic Black Box, also known as I.M.W.V.S. (Integrated Mobile-Webcam Visualization System) :-D. Is basically a device to display in a computer screen a Mobile Handset display. It is useful to beam this screen and make live demos with big audiences.

In the following picture you can have and idea of the external look of the MBB.



Here a screenshot of how a beamed screen would look like.



Components

There two main components for building this device:

* Lifecam VX-3000
* Cardboard Box

The webcam original look



The displaying software and webcam features can be found at the Microsoft Website

The original cardboard box look



Assembly



This is the camera with its base unscrewed as to reduce the volume occupied. Note that there is a piece at the bottom of the camera, where the screw was attached, that may be used to pin the camera vertical if a suitable hole is done at the bottom of the cardboard box.



This is the cardboard support as to keep the camera fixed even when the box is moved.



These are views of the situation of the camera inside the box. The clips in the sides are removable so if the box must be transported unfolded it is easy and fast to unmount it.



These slits are where the folding handset is put in. They are, of course, in the side in front of the camera.




Final views of the present Magic Black Box configuration with a folding handset. Note the hole to pass the webcam USB cable by.
Further Developments
It would be quite interesting to improve it allowing to suit different handsets thant the folding ones!!!

Alive

I am Alive!!! I have just returned from a business travel to centre Europe (Vienna, Bratislava...) and have some things and thoughts to share... but I have no time :-( Hope soon to show here my new development... the Magic Black Box!

More on Thesis Sources

Patents, patents, patents!

I have been working a bit more on the patents side of my thesis. After the previous script that retrieved the data from the Wipo website on a patents query search, I have developed another script to import this data into a database. I have used a PostgreSQL DB although I have not been able to integrate it directly to Python, I have used ODBC connections instead. I guess that but the connection parameters it is suitable for any ODBC ready database.

It creates two tables. One with all the patents information and another one that relates this patents to the search terms that resulted on it. I paste here the definition of both tables:

-- Table: patents

-- DROP TABLE patents;

CREATE TABLE patents
(
p_id integer NOT NULL,
p_code character(20),
pub_dated date,
description character(512),
applicant character(1000),
intl_class character(15),
appl_number character(20),
url character(500),
abstract character(3000),
CONSTRAINT firstkey PRIMARY KEY (p_id)
)
WITH (OIDS=FALSE);
ALTER TABLE patents OWNER TO postgres;

-- Index: codeidx

-- DROP INDEX codeidx;

CREATE UNIQUE INDEX codeidx
ON patents
USING btree
(p_code);



-- Table: patent_query

-- DROP TABLE patent_query;

CREATE TABLE patent_query
(
recid integer NOT NULL,
pat_id integer,
query_terms character(256) NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT patent_query_pkey PRIMARY KEY (recid),
CONSTRAINT patent_query_pat_id_fkey FOREIGN KEY (pat_id)
REFERENCES patents (p_id) MATCH SIMPLE
ON UPDATE NO ACTION ON DELETE NO ACTION
)
WITH (OIDS=FALSE);
ALTER TABLE patent_query OWNER TO postgres;

-- Index: queryidx

-- DROP INDEX queryidx;

CREATE UNIQUE INDEX queryidx
ON patent_query
USING btree
(pat_id, query_terms);

I have uploaded the second script to the site and can be found here, along with the previous one.

WIPO Python document retriever

Working on the sources for my MSc. Thesis I started to have a look to the patent finder of the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization). As it is the world database and the topic I am covering is quite globalised I think that it is the best IPR database to do the analysis. I need to do such an analysis of several searches on the Wipo database and I have not close the terms of the final search I have to do. So, I have to perform previous searches, analyze the number of records per year, applicant... and then decide if the terms are OK.

The point is that the way the records are retrieved is not useful enough. Thus I have written a Python script that retrieves the records that match the terms of search and stores them in a delimiter separated file. This file can be imported in a calc sheet and analyzed with the usual tools, or even exported to any database format to do advanced treatment of the information.

I put it in online under a Creative Commons license, as usual. I will update the code uploaded if I make further developments.

Here is a sample of what you would get if you execute:

C> wiposearchretrieve.py "Smartcard"

Query Params|Record Id.|Patent Code|Publication Date|Description|International Class|Application Number|Applicant Name|url|Abstract
SIM+Card|1|WO 2008/052205|02.05.2008|COMBINED ALGORITHMIC AND EDITORIAL-REVIEWED MOBILE CONTENT SEARCH RESULTS|G06Q 10/00|PCT/US2007/082754|JUMP TAP, INC.|http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/fetch.jsp?LANG=ENG&DBSELECT=PCT&SERVER_TYPE=19-10&SORT=41236014-KEY&TYPE_FIELD=256&IDB=0&IDOC=1451431&C=10&ELEMENT_SET=BASICHTML-ENG&RESULT=1&TOTAL=3280&START=1&DISP=500&FORM=SEP-0/HITNUM,B-ENG,DP,MC,AN,PA,ABSUM-ENG&SEARCH_IA=US2007082754&QUERY=%22SIM+Card%22|In embodiments of the present invention improved capabilities are described for reviewing mobile content to determine relevance such that presenting the reviewed content to a mobile communication facility may be based at least in part on the relevance. The reviewed content may be subject to an algorithmic review, an editorial review, or a combined algorithmic- editorial review. The reviewed content may be blacklisted and prevented from being presented, whitelisted and permitted to be presented to the mobile communication facility, or given a relevance score based at least in part on appropriateness of content. Portions of the reviewed content may be removed or replaced with appropriate content prior to presentation to the user.
SIM+Card|2|WO 2008/052100|02.05.2008|PORTABLE MULTIFUNCTION DEVICE, METHOD, AND GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE FOR ADJUSTING AN INSERTION POINT MARKER|G06F 3/048|PCT/US2007/082486|APPLE INC.|http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/fetch.jsp?LANG=ENG&DBSELECT=PCT&SERVER_TYPE=19-10&SORT=41236014-KEY&TYPE_FIELD=256&IDB=0&IDOC=1451325&C=10&ELEMENT_SET=BASICHTML-ENG&RESULT=2&TOTAL=3280&START=1&DISP=500&FORM=SEP-0/HITNUM,B-ENG,DP,MC,AN,PA,ABSUM-ENG&SEARCH_IA=US2007082486&QUERY=%22SIM+Card%22|In accordance with some embodiments, a computer-implemented method is performed at a portable electronic device with a touch screen display. The method includes: displaying graphics and an insertion marker at a first location in the graphics on the touch screen display; detecting a finger contact with the touch screen display; and in response to the detected finger contact, expanding the insertion marker from a first size to a second size on the touch screen display and expanding a portion of the graphics on the touch screen display from an original size to an expanded size. The method further includes detecting movement of the finger contact on the touch screen display and moving the expanded insertion marker in accordance with the detecte...
SIM+Card|3|WO 2008/051718|02.05.2008|METHOD, SYSTEM, AND GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE FOR MAKING CONFERENCE CALLS|H04M 1/247|PCT/US2007/080971|APPLE INC.|http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/fetch.jsp?LANG=ENG&DBSELECT=PCT&SERVER_TYPE=19-10&SORT=41236014-KEY&TYPE_FIELD=256&IDB=0&IDOC=1450639&C=10&ELEMENT_SET=BASICHTML-ENG&RESULT=3&TOTAL=3280&START=1&DISP=500&FORM=SEP-0/HITNUM,B-ENG,DP,MC,AN,PA,ABSUM-ENG&SEARCH_IA=US2007080971&QUERY=%22SIM+Card%22|A user interface for handling multiple calls includes displaying an image associated with a first party on a first call and an image associated with a second party on a second call. When one call is active and the other call is on hold, the image associated with the party that is on the active call is visually highlighted to make it more visually prominent relative to the other image. When both calls are joined into a conference call, both images are displayed adjacent to each other and neither is visually highlighted relative to the other.
...
...

Sources of information

It is interesting to see how hard is to get the right sources for developing a rigorous work on any subject. Let's say that sources are half of the final result. Of course, the effort is not half, just like buying good bricks is not half of the effort of building a house, but a bad election of bricks would have dramatic consequences in the final result.

In my work regarding the knowledge production on the SIM technology, I have found some databases that would help in the retrieving of records related with the research. I have mainly found in the UPC library page. I have also checked in the UB and UOC library, as I have remote access for this libraries only, and almost them all are accessible from them.

Additionally I have started using del.icio.us, the fantastic online bookmarks manager. I am not a fan of bookmarks thus the elementary possibilities provided by firefox sufficed my needs, but now that I have to look for interesting and locatable sources in the Internet, it is a very powerful tool.

One of the problem of creating a knowledge database is the format. First I started with MSWord, the I switched to BibTex, and finally I did it in Excel. I will combine the use of Excel with Python scripts to be able to convert between this format and the others... let's see how it works ;-)

Master Thesis

Finally the time has come. I have started the final season of the MSc. and I must prepare the Master Thesis. I have published some posts on the topic but I have some news. First of all, I have changed the subject of study. My original idea was to make some study about Knowledge Management and the ways to audit it.
After a first conversation with my thesis adviser I agreed to work on a KM related topic: Technological transfer and knowledge transformation in the SIM world. The objective is to do a quantitative analysis on the present production of knowledge in the Out of the mobile communications by the SIM card as to find some trends and opportunities... here is the draft for the proposal, although I must work deeply in clarifying the purpose and final hypothesis...

Bankinter Movil and Simyo

Some days ago I talked about the convergence between Banking Services and Mobile Communications... The same day I heard about Bankinter Movil, the new Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) from Spain.
Bankinter is a Spanish bank specialized in offering Internet, Mobile and Telephone access to its services. I guess the start in offering a Mobile Telephony service has to do mainly with this, but I am sure that they will be pioneers in others fields like Mobile payment and financials...
They will work with KPN, that actually is another MVNO in Spain acting with the brand Simyo and using the physical network of Orange.

On the other side, I have bought a Simyo card for data access while on the go. I have also acquired an 6120 HSDPA enabled phone as to exploit it... I will post the results!

Convergence

Convergence was one of the buzzwords of 2007 in the Telecomunications world. Convergence between fixed and mobile services (FMC) , billing convergence or technological convergence.
The fact is that Telecom Operators are offering their customers different products that are billed separetely. For instance, Internet ADSL access, cable TV, fixed Telephony service or even Mobile Telephony. This situation has made that the Telco Operator may bundle Dual or Triple Play offers to the customer and bill them altogether. There is also an opportunity to create technology mixed solutions, like Femtocells that use the legacy fixed network and ADSL access to increase the Mobile Network access or Pay TV solutions over the ADSL connection... this is what convergence, at least in a restricted sense signified to the Telco Operators.

The present year, in the Mobile World Congress, one of the hot issues was the Near Field Communications (NFC) technology and the services associated, that is, Mobile Ticketing, Identification and Payment. This technology enables the possibility to put, securely and once issued, inside the mobile phone the applications needed to deploy these services. This situation positions the Mobile Operators as key players in a new group of payment services. And this is not new for them, at present they are charging the subscriber for the services that they use when browsing the Internet, like streaming TV or ring-tones and music download. This technology presents the opportunity to make the same in the real world.
This new position can take convergence to another stage. Once the physical platform, credit cards and SIM cards, converge, what will be the difference in putting a payment application on one or the other? The Telco Operators may start competing with the Credit Card issuers (mainly banks) for the customers as to offer them the more number of services. Maybe we can see in the near future some Telco Operators start issuing credit cards and some bank enter the business of Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) as to offer Telecommunication Services to their own customers.

I am sure that not all the Telco Operators will enter the bank industry, as well as most of the banks will not start their own MVNO, but it will be interesting to see how this enabling technology that is the NFC affects the business arena between banks and telcos, and also all the supplier industry for both sectors Converge.

Traveling...

Tomorrow I travel to Morocco for 3 days. I go with a colleague to visit two customers. One of them is a new project that we must start up. It is quite challenging when you have to pioneer in an area like I am doing now. But it is also frightening the possibility of make a big mistake. Anyhow, I have been working for a long time on this project and I expect to do it OK.

Additionally I have been working on the bicingadget in the previous days. I have upgraded my hosting plan for domocat.com and now I am able to store the scripts I developed for the domocat.x10hosting.com site and link them in this site. Soon I will publish something about this work...

Mobile World Congress 2008 (II)

The Mobile World Congress ended a week ago and I have invested all this time in recovering from the 5 days work. Tough hours standing up at the booth, but also good conversations with my colleagues from around the world (Germany, Singapore, Argentina, Egypt, France...) and also with customers, partners and people passing by. These also from countries I have not yet visited: Romania, Saudi Arabia, Korea, Mexico, US... and some I have the opportunity to visit sometime in the past: UK, Netherlands, Germany, Brazil...

As can be seen the MWC is a preeminent international event. People from the Mobile industry once a year meet in Barcelona to talk with their customers, competitors, colleagues, students... and try to get some competitive advantage at the end, be it better image, more contracts, sensitive information or just more motivated stand crew.
On Monday there was a party held at "El Palauet" organized by Giesecke and Devrient. It was intended for all the staff of the Barcelona event but also for customers, partners and other G&D related people. It was a bit tiring going directly from the booth to the party and have dinner in the buffet also standing up, but the "El Bulli" catering, from the Ferran Adrià group of companies, and the musical events entertained us as well that it was a pity to had to leave so early.

The worst things of the MWC was like in the past, thefts, that were produced even inside the trade fair, and prices, quite high even for an international event like this. For the first, I saw a lot of police at the doors of the event after Tuesday, but they should be from Saturday on. Attendants to the Congress start doing the registration and taking their badges this day and so, they must be protected, because a theft becomes thousands of comments between attendants and its impact in the image of the organization is impressive. On the prices, I understand that the attendants to the MWC are mainly of the managerial levels and that they can pay 35 ? for having lunch, but would they want to pay for it if they have to take it in a tray by themselves, wait for a long queue and stand a high noise environment? I guess they will not. And less if they have a 15? alternative 100 meters walking from the venue with a good quality of food. These two things, security and prices (hotels, food and transportation) must be addressed for the next year if we want to keep this world leading event for next years.

Mobile World Congress 2008

Today I have been at the MWC trade fair. It has not yet started, it will tomorrow, but there were all the people setting up the stands for the show. It is incredible how many people comes from the other side of the world to meet here in Barcelona.
This fair is very important for Barcelona. Not every city has a world leading fair like this and so we must take care of it. Just arriving the congress I was told that a colleague was stolen his laptop and luggage. I did not see any policeman in the entrance of the event, so this is something that must be improved. The people that attends this fair is closed to the decision makers, so if we do not take care of them, the continuity of the event in the city.
Another issue is the hotel prices. It looks like some hotels have increased their rates because the high demand these days. This was one of the reasons, beside the smaller beds offer, for Cannes lose the fair. Some agreement has been achieved on this so hope the presence of the Congress in Barcelona will be assured at least until 2012.

End of 3rd. Semester

The third semester of the MSc. I am present studying (actually the reason because I started this blog) is over. With it, I have finished all the courses I had to study in Knowledge and Information Society. They have been:

- Introduction to the Knowledge and Information Society
- Technology Fundamentals of the Information Society
- Applied Statistics for Research in KS
- Technology, Economy and Society
- Information Management for Research
- Electronic Commerce and Marketing.
- Chaos Management. Introduction to Conflictology
- New Economy and E-Business
- Enterprise in the KS

Now I have to finish the MSc. preparing the Master Thesis. I prepared a brief Research proposal that I posted some time ago. Now I link the two essays I had to prepare for the New Economy and E-Business course. Both are in English and hope that you find them interesting.
The first one is on the effect of the different modes of payment in general economy. It pretends to be an introductory essay on macroeconomy. The second one is from the micro point of view and pretends to be an analysis of two case studies of enterprises applying the information collected in payment to improve their results. Both must be considered at the introductory level and hope to have the opportunity to expand them. Nothing more, enjoy the reading!

Bicing4Mobile, again

Some time ago I posted on the born of bicing4mobile. Basically was a lightweight way to check the status of a Bicing station while on the go, for instance from a mobile phone. It has some limitations, I have found problems in stations above Id # 103. Anyhow I plan to solve them.
Notwithstanding, as I already posted, the source code of the Bicing4Mobile is Open, so Its highly welcomed any help in expanding and improving it. Do not hesitate to contact me (pedro "at" domocat "dot" com) if any doubt arise.
The source code if formed by two files. I have uploaded them with a txt extension to be viewable for the browser and not interpreted as a php page. The first one, with the list of all the stations, and the second one that shows the information of the station referenced.

In addition, you can bookmark in your mobile browser the stationinfo pages in order to directly access to your favorite stations. Here you have a pair of examples of it: 1 & 2.

And now... Bicing4Mobile

Some time ago I published a google gadget that allowed users of this service of google to have updated information of the Bicing (Public bike renting service) station they choose. Some days ago, discussing with a friend at work, we started thinking in something similar but accessible from your mobile phone. We were thinking about geolocalization with the network cells, google maps API integration... the usual stuff when one starts to brainstorm ideas ;-)
I put my hands to work and today I can release the Bicing4Mobile page. It is not google based but PHP based. The iGoogle platform is very powerful but too heavy for the browser of a mobile handset. So I contracted a (free)hosting with PHP engine and started to work. I adapted the same code for the BicingGadget from Javascript to PHP and it was not very difficult. Like always the most of the effort went in debugging and testing activites. I attach to the post an screenshot of what you get once you connect to the page. Of course, it just shows the information of the Bicing station by my home. If anyone wants to expand it, feel free, like everything I post in the blog its licensed under Creative Commons.



The address, if you want to access to it is http://domocat.x10hosting.com/index.php. Enjoy it!

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!

... and now, the RenfeGadget!

I've finally completed the two main ideas I had in order to improve my "just-out-bed" time. The first one, the BicinGadget was released some days ago. Now I'm running the RenfeGadget, a gadget that shows the commuter trains schedule between the city center and the place where I work. It can be tuned in order to include more stations (a combo-box would be excellent!) and time configurations, it's up to you to do so and send it back to me to put it in my web space to be available for everyone.
As it's developed now it shows the trains from Pça. Catalunya to Sant Joan Despí before the 12 p.m. and from Sant Joan Despí to Pça. Catalunya after this time. The schedules start from the present time to two hours later. As the BicinGadget it can be added from your iGoogle page: Click at "Add Stuff"-> "Add from URL" and put this address in the box. Once accepted the warning of "You're adding stuff not created by Google" it will appear in your page.

Enjoy it!

At last... BicinGadget!!

This weekend I gave a bit momentum to this project and I finished it late Sunday. It is available at http://www.domocat.com/bicingadget/bruc45.xml. If you want to see it just go to your iGoogle page, click at "Add Stuff"-> "Add from URL" and put this address in the box. Once accepted the warning of "You're adding stuff not created by Google" it will appear in your iGoogle page. In this screenshot you can see how it looks. I must say that it was easier than I thought and looks great for the effort invested!
However, the license of the publishing of the gadget is the usual Creative Commons on what I post in the blog.



Now I'm preparing the RenfeGadget!

Kubuntu

Finally I installed the Kubuntu Feisty Fawn distribution on my laptop. Everything went well but the wireless adapter. It was a Ralink 2500 chipset based card and it seems like having problems with KNetworkManager, the management tool of this version of kubuntu for networks. After tuning some issues, uninstalling KNM and installing Wifi-Radar, it works fine. This software is unbeatable, try it and you'll forget about MS.
It looks like to be a good companion in my personal projects!

Projects & Future

Today a person from Telefonica has promptly installed the telephone and ADSL lines and finally I'm a wired person. It's been hard doing the MSc. first with the UMTS connection and the last time even without these. ONO has disappointed me in a deep way. I asked for the broadband service almost four months ago and I'm still waiting to receive the documentation... a pitty.

Talking about work, I decided to accept the offering to became part of the Telecommunications department as a Project Manager. So, in a few weeks I'll start to develop a more market prospective and customer related work. It's been sad to leave the R&D crowd but I guess is a good change for my professional future. Hope to keep the leading position in the innovation and socioeconomic management framework the company has stablished and don't lose the technological contact I'm nowadays having.

Finally, as the access lines to the telephone and Internet network have been installed at home, I'm start playing with them and try to develop a lightweight fax/email gateway and exploit it. I don't know if I'll have time but think it can be fun.