TTP v0.93

Already a while ago I updated the To The Point (TTP) application to version 0.93. The major new features are:

• Now TTP scales images to the size of the screen when loaded!
  
• Now there are up to five stored sets supported.
  
• Now you can swap the locations (under which key they are bound) of two images in the set.
  

There are still many thinks to polish. Now after the basic scaling of the images the app is definitely worth checking.

For app description and download links, check http://huopio.fi/simo/ttp/

To The Point (TTP)

Here's a public launch of a tiny background project of mine. To The Point (short: TTP) is a small native S60 3rd edition application specialized for quick viewing of screenshot-size images on your mobile screen with minimum clicks.

What you can do with TTP? I use it like this:

• I have either imported full-screen size images (320x240 on my E61i) from my photo collection or taken full-screen screenshots of them e.g. with http://www.antonypranata.com/screenshot.
  
• I have loaded them into TTP under separate number keys for quick viewing
  
• I have put TTP as one of my active standby applications
  
• Now I can access full screen images with maximum of two clicks straight from the idle screen!
  
  
  
  • When TTP is run, the image assigned to the number "5"-key is loaded immediately
    
  • If I now press e.g. the "3"-key, or the left arrow, image assigned under that key is now displayed. The same goes with all the number keys.
    
  • "*" and "#" keys cycle through the images
    
  
  

The use case above was my reason to write this application. Basically it does that but not much else. It is not suitable for generic gallery application as it does not e.g. scale your images, and you are not able to browse the images that are on the phone.

Naturally the application has bugs and known issues. If you find a bug that can be easily reproduced please let me know. There are no guarantees of timely fix, though. ;)

For more information and the download links, please check http://huopio.fi/simo/ttp/

How many channels is enough? (part two)

Continuing from my rant on the multitude of channels.

Ok, maybe the everyday reality of the communications channels is not that bad in reality thanks to the tool consolidation. Both in mobile setup and from a home/work workstation I can handle all of the necessary channels with just a few tools. The question is, does it really make it any easier?

On my primary mobile (Nokia E61i at the moment) I use Fring to handle MSN, GTalk and Skype. Via XMPP it can also deliver the updates from Jaiku (or twitter, if needed) back and forth. The only missing piece is IRC for which I need to launch a separate application (putty or Mirggi). For my email on the go I use gmail, through mobile website or with the java app. The email funnels all the reminders from the social networking sites I need really to react to.

On the workstations browser is the key. At home I use OSX applications like Adium or Skype for best user experience but at work or from on the road Meebo has it all. Again, for IRC I need to ssh to my unix account. Email, Jaiku and the social sites are all handled through the browser.

Funneling everything through the browser also helps to the challenge of using one computer at the home for all the family members. Using many user accounts at the iMac does not really work for us, things need to be handled in "one session". There would be a room for development of an "identity swithch" which would authorize all the native clients with correct credentials - I wonder if anybody has been experimenting with this using e.g. OSX keyring?

With me using everything through the browser and my wife using the native clients and her own email account with separate login we can manage somehow.

With all the social sites, blogging systems, and IM networks having their more or less public and open API:s there is still room for more consolidation. Supercharging applications like Adium or Mobile goodies like Fring to handle all the listed channels could be possible, but will the projects like that take the controversial task to get "all in". Before that, only way for the end user is to be selective with the networks and bear with the fact of not reaching everybody you want - or maximize the reach and bear with the time consumption and brain bandwith overhead ;)

Perfect pair of keylock applications for Nokia E61(i)

In order to fulfill my needs for key lock with my Nokia E61i, I use two little freeware applications:

First one is AutoLock ( http://s60addons.com/autolock/ ) , an automatic keylock utility which triggers the key lock after given time of inactivity. Pretty standard stuff and there must be dozens of other little utilities doing the same.

The second application is mLock ( http://cooga.ch/ ), an application originally meant for the N80 slider for quick manual activation of key lock. I use it with my "own key": I can quickly lock the keys with that regardless of the application that is in front. With that I can e.g. quickly fetch a pretty picture on screen, lock the keys and give the phone to my 19 mo daughter ;-)

Has anybody found a single freeware utility combining the both of these functionalities?

How many channels is enough - or is there a limit?

When looking at all the Internet communication services and sites that we are using - the picture is very fragmented. Lately I have been questioning myself why I really use this and this service - and is it really serving the purpose for me?

When you have certain unified peer group (e.g. school class, or group of university mates) the choice is easy - you use the service(s) your friends are using.

That was also my situation in the university, we all did hang around on IRC channels a lot. Most of us did not even have cell phones yet. The IRC channel and emails did most of the things that the SMS:es, microblogs and facebooks do today: Casual chats, keeping friends up-to-date, agreeing on place to eat, drink or whatever. OK, it was very nerdy at the time and even then was not for everybody.

Now as many many years have gone and people and life has gone its own way for everybody. From my perspective there are numerous small peer groups which still randomly overlap. Interaction with the friends is more one-to-one, or with the families. Obviously the need for keeping everybody tightly informed and involved is not there anymore.

To approach the answers of why? and does it work? Lets list the used channels first:

To start with, there's email - the Killer Application of the Internet. My personal emailings are infrequent but they usually weigh a lot. Couple of old friendships have stayed alive the couple of last years just by couple e-mails a year.

For IM at home, we use Skype and MSN Messenger. Skype handles also the occasional needs for the voice and video chats to the grandparents and friends abroad. While using the gmail, the GTalk/XMPP is also there. Occasionally I also log to IRC and drop couple lines on good old channels. The IM use is usually short dialogs and sharing links. It is not uncommon to chat with some even close friends much more often than call or SMS. So, counting these ways together there's four separate channels in addition to email.

We keep a family blog, mostly filled with pictures and stories of our daughter. In addition to that I occasional post non-family-related things here. Adding two more "channels" to the previous.

Come the social networking sites. Only LinkedIn and Facebook have really picked some traction with me. I've used the former networking with professional and latter with non-professional contacts (some of them are in both). I have not invited any of my friends or acquaintances to these services, only added or responded to people who are already there - the result is that only less than half the people I know are listed in these services.. In any case, two additional channels here.

Come the microblogging. My first touch to it was Jaiku, to which my colleague invited me say two years ago. I did not find almost any of my friends there at the time and that kind of sizzled. Now couple months back I picked up twitter, first to follow some tech discussions there, then I started to occasionally post my life notes there coupled with the Facebook status message. I had also the Jaiku account active and noted that on Jaiku there are more people connected which I actually know in person. Couple days back I decided to use Jaiku as my "primary microblog channel" and leave twitter cough about its capacity problems in the background. So, there are two additional channels added to the list here.

Counting these with my fingers and one toe I get 11 (eleven!) different internet communication services which are more or less in use for me. I am sure I have forgotten some obvious services - but even this number seems to be a bit too much..

So which subset of these I really need - what could be ideal for me? Only thing that is sure that there's some room for convergence.

To avoid too long single posts I continue this monolog in an another one later on.

Google Translate handles now Finnish!

Hooray! The Google Translate handles now Finnish language. Naturally the results are quite funny as the language is not the most easy for machine translation.

Check out for example Finnish translation of this blog you're reading right now.