{ o . o }

Finally after 5 months there is this update. I wasn't sure this blog would break the 100 posts barrier, but if this is here, it worked.

As for the Ipod Touch. That one was sold within a fortnight. Having a touchscreen looks nice, but with an addiction to buttons it's hard to have a device with only 2 of them.

For almost 2 years I am resident of the little Caribbean island Aruba and you can always give me a ring if you are around.

Meanwhile I've been to Charlotte USA and twice to Jamaica. When the next update will be? I have no idea... RSS is your friend :)

Meet the iPod Touch. It looks like an iPhone but is thinner because you can't use it as a phone. There is a little buzzer in the Touch but it only chirps now an then. In fact, the device is not much more than a visual touch-pad equipped with wifi.


Both devices run Apple iPhone OS. This looks like Mac OS X but is a stripped down version for the two tablets.


To fully utilize the capability of iPhone OS it's necessary to jailbreak it. With the right tools this will take about 10 minutes. Excluding the time to fix your iPod when things go wrong... ;)


Once 'jail-broken' you can download many applications trough Installer.app. This includes games, dictionaries, ebooks and all kind of little tools like an all purpose converter. By using mobileterminal you can even use your iPod for ssh or telnet.



To jailbreak your own iPhone OS iPod Touch it is easiest to use the jailbreak package from http://www.itouchable.de/ (Jailbreak_Apps-itouchable.de.zip). The site is in German but the tool will enable iPhone applications on your iPod Touch (and it has an English menu).


The iTouchable package is based on ZiPhone. ZiPhone is the basic iPhone OS tool that will crack the operating system open. It also is the easiest way to unlock an iPhone (not needed for the iPod Touch as it doesn't have a sim an also does not activation trough iTunes).


For even more applications, you can try Cydia. This is a Debian APT front-end and uses packages from Telesphoreo.

If you have a WiFi equipped Nokia Symbian S60v3 (* phone, you can transform it seamlessly into an IP phone. When you have a local SIP server the integrated SIP client should do, but for more mobility an extra robust solution is available from Truphone.

This UK based company offers a full application and platform to use with your Nokia at any public WiFi hotspot (or your private one). Visit their website, SMS 'Tru' to +44 7624 000 000 +44 79 78 88 1111 or just download here.

The application will create an account if you don't have one. For creating an account you'll need a SIM card in your phone (to send/receive SMS). Once configured you can use your hand held without a SIM.


Dialing to any fixed line should be possible but do mind that all SIP companies are there for your monies. I'd advise to test your $2.00 start credit on some free numbers. For example +31 8787 00000 (Xs4all SIP PSTN). Actually this number is not really free, but it seems they don't charge this range yet... :)

You can also dial other SIP enabled phones directly from your phone. Try 55555@fwd.pulver.com or any from these public test numbers. Sip 2 sip calls are always free (or should be).


Even more fun is it when you connect different SIP accounts with your Truphone number. Imaging being in France and having a SIP PSTN number in the Netherlands. People who would call your Dutch number ring your phone in France, but pay for calling the Dutch number. Where France can be any location in the world with enough bandwidth.

To get this done you will need a SIP PBX (telephone exchange). Asterisk will do, but you'll need to have this running full time on an Internet connected box. This is where PBXes.com kicks in. Here you can get a free account for free (yeah, again) hosted PBX services. Their PBXes are multi homed which means there are more of them on the Internet. You will be connected to the one close to your timezone.


Configuring PBXes is not very straight forward. If requested I'll put a little tutorial here. When properly configured people will be able to dial sip:your.name@your.domain and get connected to your Truphone phone.

* = Nokia E50, E51, E60, E61, E65, E70, E90, N80, N81, N82, N95.

I wish you all a Happy New Year! Yesterday we already had a big fireworks party in Oranjestad. Also this is my 100th post since I switched to Blogger.


Video is recorded with my new Nokia E51.


These nice photos are made by Linja.


Oliebollen or Dutch doughnuts!

Available here. Awesome S60 coding!

PS. Because the site seems down, I have mirrored emTube 1.0.10.

... for the ecards and presents! :)

And this is my new watch. The backplate of mine is mint but this picture is a little better.

The suit that is Robocop, can be seen as a so-called exoskeleton. The same for the suits from Halo. The first reason for this type of gear is protection. While to many only known from TV or computer games, a man called Troy Hurtubise already was making Halo exoskeletons in 1989. To proof they do the job he was crazy enough to have them tested on himself. Back in the 90's these were called anti-bear suits.


The 2007 version of his anti-bear suit looked even more promising. Hurtubise spend all money in his project and is bankrupt because nobody bought it. Below Hurtubise is shown in the latest known model of his suit. _{(PS. The current owner seems to be Sara Markis from West Palm Beach, Fl.)}


Protection from bears of course is a big plus but is not very useful when the suit itself weights about the same as a bear. Unless you would have mad skill powerz this is not something you can wear while being on a bear hunt.

Until now. Meet the Sarcos ExoSkeleton.

Winners of the Defense Advance Projects Agency (DARPA) exoskeleton program, the Sarcos suit promises to allow soldiers to “run faster, leap further and carry more.” The system uses dozens of tiny servo motors to do the job of moving hydraulic fluid via high pressure lines to servo valves on each joint. Test users have been able to easily lift hundreds of pounds with hundreds of reps, perform repetitive tasks like loading and unloading heavy equipment, even walk dozens of miles uphill, all by mimicking movements with super human strength and with very little fatigue for the man inside the suit.

Combine these 2 types of exoskeletons and do the math. If you for now just want to know how to escape from bears, you can go here.