What to do with a Palm Z22?
My wife was working a street fair on sunday and as per normal I got bored after about 30 minutes and started wandering the side streets looking for stoopsales and flea markets. Sometimes I find some good stuff, books i haven't yet read and would like too, old computer parts and stuff I have no idea what it is but looks cool. This time I found a pair of Palm Z22's and after a bit of haggling I ended up getting them, two palm usb cables and a palm charger for nowt 
getting stuff free, gratis and for nothing is probably my 3rd favourite thing in the whole world 
-- One of the Z22's was perfect, nary a scratch on it (a few worn spots on the touch screen but you don't really notice them unless you look for them) and the other has a dead touch screen and is now in pieces as i learn how to take it apart, put it back together and see what's what.
I do now have a problem. what on earth to do with the working Z22? I have messed around with it and put a BASIC interpreter on it (hotpaw) and a few other bits and bobs but i'm now at a loss what to do next with it. Anyone have any ideas on what I could use it for?
Hunter Davis is an android coding dervish
Hunter Davis is on a 30 apps in 30 days kick at the moment and although I only have one android device (an unrooted nookcolor) and can't actually try them they do look like pretty good little apps and possibly quite useful for some. If you have an android device you might like to give them a try
http://hunterdavis.com/archives/category/programs/android-apps
IBM T30 bios password reset using buspirate
I just stumbled across this post about removing the bios password on an IBM t30 laptop using a buspirate. The bios password on IBM Thinkpad laptops is stored in an EEPROM so removing the battery from the motherboard won't help you at all but using a buspirate the author has been able to grab the relevant data from the EEPROM and gain access to the bios so he can reset the password. I wonder if the same technique would work with the harddisk password  on IBM thinkpads?
the full article is http://www.haxaday.com/projects/t30-bios-password-reset-buspirate
Checkpoint UTM-1 Appliances for sale
A friend is selling his old Checkpoint UTM-1 Appliances on ebay as they are just sitting around doing nothing and gathering dust. If you are interested the auction is here
It looks like Valexonline has more cheap zipits for $14.95
It looks like valexonline have another batch of Zipit Z2's in stock. This time for $14.95 plus s&h.
http://www.valexonline.com/ZipIt_Wireless_Messenger_Z2A_p/6001.htm
Some people have too much time (and x-ray machines) on their hands
I was performing my normal morning procedures of making coffee, checking email and trawling the web looking for interesting items on blogs and in the news and stumbled on Geordy's latest blog post. I'm not sure why exactly he wanted to x-ray a zipit z2 although x-raying items does seem to be his new hobby and why the heck not at least it keeps him off the streets and out of trouble, at least until he irradiates half his block and gets attacked by mutants.
Wireless charging for the Zipit® Now™ device (previously known as the Z3)
Apparently the new Zipit Wireless Inc. two-way pager device that is aimed at doctors and other staff in hospitals is to get wireless charging ability using a battery cover made by wiprowess.
You can find a press release about this here or a post on wiprowess's blog.
I've also found another photo of the Zipit® Now™ device.
Possible photo of the Zipit Enterprise Critical Messaging Solution (the Z3)
It's not a very good photo but I was googling today and found an article in pcmag about the Zipit Wireless Inc. ECMS and it included a possible photo of the "Z3" hardware. I'm asking around to see if this is in fact a real photo of the Z3 but so far no response. you can find the actual pcmag article here.
Update: Just had it confirmed that it is the "Z3" otherwise known as the ECMS (and probably alot of other things too) -- here is a larger image of it. Images copyright 2011 Zipit Wireless Inc.
Finally joined the Twafia
I was going through the list of all the old, alpha and beta accounts I have signed up for over the years and noticed that in the micro blogging category i've had a twitter account for over 3 years (not used my identi.ca either) and apart from a few test tweets I haven't ever used it.
Rather than just let it exist I decided that it might be worth adding twitter functionality to an IZ2Se/EZ2S standalone application i wrote about 18 months ago that works sort of like http://startty-config.com/ and pushes a clock, weather and email notifications to the Zipit Z2 (with pretty graphics) every minute or so. To do this I actually need a twitter account that is populated with a few followers, followings and tweets so i've decided to start using twitter. I'll be posting mostly about stuff i'm interested in, along with my blog posts and some general bits and pieces, so probably really boring stuff but if you want to see what i'm upto the you should follow @ukscone ( http://twitter.com/ukscone ).
The lowest form of life.
I just woke up, kicked the "trouble and strife" Â out of the house and off to work, fed the cats and made coffee and sat down to trawl the web as I do every weekday morning. However this morning I stumbled across a blog post that made me want to take a baseball bat to the author's head or at least to his computer. Adam Roberts posted an article on "the amateur gourmet" titled "How To Always Get A Seat at a Crowded Coffee Shop". Being British I know that there are rules that apply when queuing, especially when waiting for a bus or in a coffee shop/cafe, and that even after over twenty years in the states I am fighting a losing battle when trying to educate Americans about these rules. (I still can't get the wife to queue properly although I am doing slightly better with my son but I was able to get to him early). Apart from the fact that people who go to places like Starbucks, or the coffee area at Barnes and Nobles, or any local coffee shop/cafe and whip out their computer and sit there for hours and hours nursing one or two beverages are the lowest form of life and will be first against the wall come the revolution I take particular umbrage to his point three.
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(3) If they say "no" and the seat's available immediately drape your coat over the back of the chair and deposit your bag on the seat. This, obviously, secures the seat as yours; then go stand in line and order your coffee and keep an eye on your stuff. But congratulations: you've scored a seat at a crowded coffee shop!
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NO! NO! NO!
That is not what you do. In fact it is the complete opposite of what you do. You first of all queue to purchase your drink THEN you look around for an unoccupied chair (and table). Coffee shops are not an extension of your house/office, they are not places where you write blog posts, they are not places to pose with your macbook pretending to write a screenplay, they are places where you go to have a drink, maybe read a few pages or a chapter of the book you are currently reading, relax for a few minutes or maybe have a political or philosophical debate with your friends, in other words use a coffee shop as they were first intended NOT as your private poser kingdom of obnoxiousness. DRINK YOUR BEVERAGE AND LEAVE ALREADY. If you want to do some work or browse the web do it in your home or office.