DiddleBug Extractor 2.1

Drawing pictures on your Palm

I use an excellent free Open Source program called DiddleBug on my Palm Treo 700p for doing small black and white drawings. The latest version of DiddleBug creates 320×320 pixel size drawings. These are referred to on their site as “high-res” pictures instead of the 160×160 pixel size drawings that older versions of the software created.

Getting DiddleBug pictures off your Palm

I used to use a nice converter on my Windows laptop called WindleBug but wanted to be able to just use my Mac laptop by itself instead.

The DiddleBug FAQ mentions using a Perl script called Didcon on Windows, Linux and OS X which hadn’t been updated yet to extract the new 320×320 pixel sized images. When I ran the Didcon script for the first time, it saved out a 160×160 graphic that had weird lines running throughout it, due to the fact that it wasn’t reading out the data for a 320×320 pixel sized graphic.

After hacking at it for a little while, including researching how to correctly indicate the pixel size of an image in a Windows bitmap in the header of the file, I managed to get a working script that correctly outputs a 320×320 .bmp file.

This is the modified script, and I’m also including a second script that you can double-click in the Finder to run the extraction process.

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Popularity: 11% [?]

So, after reading on Slashdot about the hot new Opera Mini web browser I just HAD to go and try and download it. To my Samsung i300 Palm phone. Which is conspicuously missing from their supported devices page.

I should have known better.

I mean, I already HAVE a graphical web browser on my phone (albeit a somewhat crappy one that was supplied as a replacement for the version of Blazer that originally came with the phone). So it’s not like I really NEEDED this software from Opera. I kind of thought, well, they have another Palm device (the Palm Tungsten C) listed, so maybe my phone will work, and well, Opera is pretty cool, right? And maybe their new browser will be better than the one I’ve got right now…

So, I dutifully browsed to the http://mini.opera.com address using my phone’s browser. I clicked the link to download the application. I clicked Yes to say, yes, I really really want to download this. And thats when, once it got mostly through downloading (I think…) things went TERRIBLY WRONG.

As in, now, my phone won’t boot.

It’s bricked. As in, I can’t even HARD RESET (due to another issue, totally unrelated to this of course, the fact that the ONE KEY on my phone that DOESN’T WORK ANYMORE is the freaking UP key, the specific key that you NEED to press in order to DO a hard reset. Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

So, now I’m waiting with the battery taken out, hoping that it will run out of it’s internal reserve of power that lets it remember things so that it will forget everything and play nice again so I can resync it with the lappy.

This is the error message that I get when I try to boot the phone, happens during the Initializing Phone… sequence:

Fatal Alert
TapiClientGlue.c, Line:112, null pointer use.
Reset

Let this be a lesson to you — sometimes, even when you think that the rules and “supported hardware” lists don’t apply to you… they do.

Guess it really is time for that Treo 650, huh. And yes, I did submit a bug report to Opera… Might be a good one for their FAQ.

Popularity: 5% [?]

After trying it out a long time ago, I finally bought this handy little app that does what it promises - lets you highlight a phone number on your palm, then call it. So simple, and why Palm didn’t include that in their OS, not sure. Get it? Handy? Heh.

PDAapps

MarknDial
Are you a user who often finds yourself wanting to dial a phone number being displayed on a web page, memopad, datebook or word document?
Did you find yourself memorizing the number, switching to the phone application, starting to dial the number… and then forgetting and having to go back. Memorizing again. Switching to the phone application. How exasperating!!

With MarknDial, just mark the number and let MarknDial dial it for you. A single keystroke can dial a highlighted number. Another keystroke can add a highlighted number to the address book.
Any application that supports highlighting text on the screen will work with MarknDial. With Blazer, phone numbers are automatically hyperlinked and will dial out from your phone if clicked. You can even mark a URL in most applications and MarknDial will launch Blazer with that URL. You can also mark an email address, and MarknDial will launch your favourite email program with that address filled in appropriately.

Try MarknDial free today!

Popularity: 3% [?]

So I like my i330 again. I was having this terrible echoing problem that made it hard for the person on the other end to communicate well.

I was worried that something was really wrong w/ it, but then I realized that if I simply turned the volume in the speaker down then the horrible echo went away. Yay.

This entry scribbled on my i330. heh.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Another nifty little Palm app, found on Freshmeat.

PalmOrb: Use your PalmOS PDA as a LCD status display via serial, USB, BlueTooth or IR

PalmOrb : Introduction

PalmOrb is software that allows you to use your PalmOS device as a LCD
status display for your computer! You can display system stats (such as:
CPU load graphs, CPU temperatures, free disk space), news alerts, stock
indexes, WinAmp graphs, etc.

PalmOrb works by pretending to be (or emulating) a real LCD; a Matrix
Orbital LK204-25 LCD. So you can use existing software that expects
a Matrix Orbital display! Here are a few LCD driving programs:

Popularity: 2% [?]

i330 Skins! Graffiti and Phone Skins for Samsung SPH-i330 SmartPhones!

Welcome to i330 Headquarters!

Your source for Skins, Applications and Hacks for the Samsung i330 SmartPhone

Samsung released an excellent PDA/Phone, the SPH-i330. However, their standard release was missing a few features I wanted. I could either wait for a later release, or just fix these minor shortcommings myself. Well, as I’m a Palm developer, and assembly coder, I figured it was time to do a little poking. Looking through my phone’s code, I saw Samsung had made it possible with this new phone to override the phone’s themes, and with a little more work, access the phone’s internal functions. I’ve now fixed the parts of the phone I didn’t like, and since not everyone is an assembly coder, or wants to learn any more about their Palm other than how to use it, I made this site. You can upload your own themes, or download the work of others from here. You do not need to be a programmer to use anything on this site, or build your own themes. You can upload your themes in JPEG (.jpg) format, and the site will translate them into ‘Palm language’ to load onto your phone.

Popularity: 3% [?]

This is completely RAD. Slightly slower than in-cradle synching, but totally awesome that it works! (via pdaPhoneHome.com).

ok kiddies, Funny thing is we just went over this issue in another thread, ill post below the same instructions that i posted from someone else in teh Buisness connect thread. I wanted to have it tested first, then we should put it in the FAQ

Tony, if you ssetup the over air sync, and start it, the internet/ vision icons start going CRAZY, but it doesn’t dial in. That is a network hotsync/ local hotsync over air. I figure that is for Wi Fi or Blue Tooth (obviously hotsync is designed for more than just the i500) I make this conclusion because its “over air” and doesn’t use the phone.

But, you can do a vision/ over air hotsync. Greg has confirmed the old setup still works.

Here it is again.

—————————————————-
It is completely possible to HotSync your i330 over the internet by following the following steps. I’ll be the first to admit that you have to jump through some hoops to get it working (and remembering all the settings you need), but once you do it a couple times, it’s a snap.

The instructions are broken down so that you make changes to the phone, the HotSync Computer, and then finally doing your first Sync. Don’t skip any steps.

**** Setup on your i330 Phone ****
1. Click on the HotSync icon
2. Go to Options –> Modem Sync Preferences. Choose “Network”
3. Go to Options –> LanSync Preferences. Choose “Local HotSync”
4. Go to Options –> Primary PC Address.
___ a. Set “Primary PC Name” to “!!” (2 exclamation points with no quotes).
___ b. Set “Primary PC Address” to the IP address of the computer(or router) that is attached to the internet.
___ c. Leave “Subnet Mask” blank
5. Go to Options –> Connection Setup. Make sure “Direct Serial” is highlighted. Click “Done”.

**** Setup on your Computer ****
1. Right-click the HotSync icon in the System tray and choose Setup.
2. Click the Network tab
3. Make sure the Profile you want to sync has a checkmark in the checkbox
4. Click the TCP/IP Settings and make sure that your correct IP address is chosen. If you only have one Network adapter (in most cases) this will be grayed-out.
5. Leave Subnet Mask blank and click OK.
6. Click OK again to close the Setup window.
7. Right-click the HotSync icon in the System tray and make sure “Network” has a checkmark next to it.

**** Firewalls & Routers ****
If your computer is behind a firewall or it has a router between it and the internet, you will have to do the following.

1. Make sure you have the following ports open: TCP:14237 & TCP:14238. This is how HotSync (on your phone) communicates with HotSync on your computer. So if you use a software firewall, you will have to allow HotSync to communicate with the internet over these ports. The Palm website indicates that port 14238 is for UDP, but my tests indicate that communication is happening on TCP.
2. If you use a router, you will have to have all requests on those ports forward to the internal computer with HotSync

**** Doing your first HotSync over the Internet ****
1. Click on HotSync and on the main screen, change from “Local” to “Modem”
2. When you change to Modem, it should show you “Sprint” as who it will dial.
3. Press the HotSync icon on this screen. HotSync will dial out to Sprint and initiate the synchronizing. You will see the HotSync notification box popup on the HotSync computer as the process happens (just as it would if it was a local HotSync.)

**** Notes ***
Thanks to member “Get Wright” for this one!
Setting the “Primary PC Name” to “!!” will prevent the HotSync settings in the i330 from getting set to their internal (Private LAN) settings.

Must use actual IP Address
Apparently DNS doesn’t work, because when I try to use my DNS name, which will forward to my Dynamic IP Address, it doesn’t work. If anyone knows how to get this to work, please let me know.

******************
Jason
Jason@osp-chicago.com

Popularity: 3% [?]

Just sitting at the West County mall, blogging from my i330. We got Kevin an iPod for his graduation, and some Bath & Body Works stuff for Catherine. This summer is going to be busy on the travel front. First up is Kristin’s association, leaving June 24, returning 28. Then is Seth’s wedding in Gloucester, MA on July 8. Then out for Naomi’s wedding later in July.

Popularity: 2% [?]

PDAapps, Inc.

Downloaded their i330 applications to try out. I might actually purchase their instant messenger - it’s an integrated approach very much like a Trillian for your Palm. We’ll see if it works out, but it could be pretty cool to have your instant messenger buddy lists always on and in your pocket!

Popularity: 2% [?]

Got Gallery finally installed for this blog. So far I’ve added an album for my drawings made using my Palm pda/phone Samsung i330. Check them out!

http://www.gabrielserafini.com/gallery/palm-drawings

P.S. I used XnView (found via Download.com) to convert the Diddlebug pictures (extracted using Windlebug) from .bmp format to .gif format, suitable for posting to the Gallery. All of these programs are freeware. Very nice!

Popularity: 2% [?]