Boydo's Tech Talk

I’ve been on a bit of a weight management thing lately (i.e. getting out and exercising instead of sitting on my butt all the time) and part of that is obviously tracking and recording your stats to make sure things are going in the right direction.

Anyway, I’ve had my Fitbit for a year (still going strong) which has been great to track my activity throughout each day and historically. Here are some stats I have collected using the Fitbit:

• I have walked 2,398,407 steps since I received it,
• Those steps equate to around 1,336.41 kilometres,
• The day with the most steps was March 20, 2011 with 26,483 steps (or 14.57 kilometres),

I reckon that’s pretty neat!

Anyway, Fitbit announced that they are releasing new Wi-Fi scales called the “Fitbit Aria”. Essentially, these are like regular scales but with Wi-Fi built into it along with the capability to link it to your Fitbit account. All you need to do is hop on everyday and it will send off your stats for you to track online.

It even works with up to eight people with a clever way to work out who hopped on the scales most of the time. It manages this by keeping track of last known weight for each person and then allowing for a suitable tolerance around that weight to make an educated guess as to which record belongs to which account. However, if the Fitbit Aria cannot definitively work out which person to assign a given measurement then it will send the data to all linked accounts (which could be embarrassing - it would have been better only to assign the measurement to accounts it believes are potential candidates given tolerance). You can claim or assign a wayward measurement online through your Fitbit account.

Anyway, the Fitbit Aria is released in April and I’ve ordered a white one (because it matches the bathroom, not because it’s white). I’ll be sure to unbox and preview it when it arrives.

For more info, check out the Fitbit Aria product page here.

Stay tuned!

Given that I am going on a holiday to Hawaii in a few weeks time I decided to get a Tru SIM for my own mobile after the good experience had by my wife when she was overseas (which I wrote about here).

Anyway, my Tru SIM (from Tru and formerly known as Truphone) arrived yesterday and I activated it today using the provided the instructions. However, I’ve had a few issues with getting it to work. Specifically, I can’t make or receive phone calls on my SIM (apart from one call which locked up my Android phone with the Tru SIM in it) and sporadic test SMS messages that arrived only after rebooting the phone.

Attempting to dial out from home resulted in the following error being heard:

“Optus advises that the number dialed is either incomplete or incorrect. Please check the number and try again.”

I couldn’t even dial the 404 (top-up number), 505 (voicemail), 707 (customer service) or 808 (activation service) numbers.

Whilst this is a bit of a pain to try and fix it’s important to try and resolve well before you go on holiday. Had I left before making sure it worked I would have been spending a chunk of my holiday on the phone instead of soaking up a bit of sun and enjoying some time out.

That said, the support from Tru has been quite responsive so far (particularly for a weekend) and hopefully they will be able to sort out my problem soon. I’ll keep you posted with how things are going.

Recently, I reinstalled Windows 7 from scratch after putting a brand new OCZ RevoDrive 3 X2 solid state drive in my desktop computer but since then my computer hasn’t been going to sleep automatically after its nightly backup. After a bit of research, I found that I needed to use the powercfg tool to see what was keeping the computer from going to sleep.

Specifically, you need to open an administrative command prompt and then type in the following command:

powercfg /requests

You should then end up with something looking like this:

Powercfg Command

As you can see, there is an entry under the System heading:

[DRIVER] \FileSystem\srvnet
An active remote client has recently sent requests to this machine.

You can even run a power efficiency diagnostics report by running the following command (after you close all of your files and applications):

powercfg -energy -output %USERPROFILE%\Desktop\Energy_Report.html

After sixty seconds, this will create a file called Energy_Report.html on your desktop which you can open and check the file for items that contains the phrase “The device or driver has made a request to prevent the system from automatically entering sleep.” You may also see a reference to \FileSystem\svnet towards the top of the report.

So how do you fix it?

There are a few things. The first thing you should try is updating the driver for your network card(s). The best place to check for these are the manufacturer website if you bought your computer pre-built or the manufacturer of your motherboard (if it’s a built in network card) or the manufacturer of your network card (if it’s a dedicated card).

The second thing to try is disabling media streaming. To get there you’ll need to browser to:

• Control Panel,
• Network and Internet,
• Network and Sharing Center,
• Change advanced sharing settings (on the left),
• Scroll down to the “Media streaming” section and click on “Choose media streaming options…”,
• Click the “Block All” button,
• Reboot your computer.

Media Streaming Options

By default, your computer will attempt to advertise its content to other computers on the local network through means such as HomeGroup and other content sharing functionality in Windows. If another computer on the network continually or periodically polls your computer for content the net effect can be that your computer will never go to sleep.

To undo this change, just browse back to the screen and click the button to turn it back on (there should only be one button in the window).

If that doesn’t work for you then you can initiate an override on the srvnet driver from an administrative command prompt:

powercfg -requestsoverride driver \filesystem\srvnet system

This setting will survive a reboot so you shouldn’t need to input it after each cycle but you’ll need to reboot to get it to take effect.

To undo this change from an administrative command prompt, just type in the following:

powercfg -requestsoverride driver \filesystem\srvnet

Hopefully, at least one of these options will help you get around your Windows Vista, Windows 7 (and perhaps also Windows computer not wanting to go to sleep by itself.

Here’s a quick tip.

Most Wi-Fi devices these days will support the latest wireless security protocols such as WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) and WPA2. In particular, 802.11n devices will require that you use WPA2 in order to obtain faster speeds otherwise you get knocked back down to 54Mbps tops. However, WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) is still kicking around for legacy devices that were not powerful enough to handle WPA or WPA2. In the computer industry, backwards compatibility is always a driving force but it can often come at the expense of performance and/or security.

If ever you have the option you should use the following as your order or preference of Wi-Fi security protocols:

• WPA2
• WPA + WPA2
• WPA
• WEP
• No security

Just a quick update for tonight.

For owners of the Samsung Omnia 7 on Optus (at least) an update has been released today that enabled internet sharing on your Mango upgraded phone. It works as well as other wireless hotspot solutions on mobile phones.

Once you have upgraded you will find the setting to enable internet sharing under “Settings”. You can switch it on by turning sharing “on” and then you can optionally change the network settings by tapping the “Setup” button at the bottom. I changed the broadcast name and password from the default and made sure that WPA2 was selected as the security type.

Once internet sharing is activated you will notice that your Wi-Fi icon will change at the top of your screen to signify that it is operating in internet sharing mode. You’ll also be able to see how many guests are connected in the internet sharing screen as well. Another neat feature is if there are no guests connected to the hotspot it will automatically disengage in a minute or two to save battery.

So what are you waiting for? Get the update now while it’s hot!

Last time, I covered the Panasonic washing machine that was shown off at the recent Panasonic home appliance launch last week. Today, I am going to cover off the new cordless phone that will be added to the existing lineup.

Granted, these days landline telephony might be viewed more as a legacy service compared to the convenience and relative cost effectiveness of mobile services (particularly with cap plans that can cover even the most insatiable needs for talking and texting). One thing that landline telephony does offer over mobiles is its ability to keep working despite a blackout in your neighbourhood for a prolonged period of time. Sure, you can still keep using your mobile but if your mobile wasn’t already fully charged and you have no backup charging solution (like a HyperMac external battery or a UPS) you’re going to have to make that battery last somehow (turn off data, turn off 3G, turn off mail account refreshing, turn down screen brightness, etc).

So great, landline telephones (in a pre-NBN world) can be powered over the copper lines from the telephone exchange but that does you no good if you have a cordless phone (which a lot of people have in their houses). If the base station has no power then the link between the cordless handset and the exchange is lost which means no phones calls in or out. Of course, if you have a traditional corded telephone (like the Telstra Touchfones that have hung around for years) then you’re golden but you’re also tethered to a spot with maybe a radius of a metre or two.

You’d think someone would make a cordless phone that’d work in a blackout, it’s 2011 afterall.

Well, Panasonic have come up with something to handle such a situation and it’s a simple and elegant solution called the “Power Failure Talk System”. With the new 803 series cordless phones due for release in February 2012 all you need to do is pop a handset into the base station (which is also the charging station when there is power). You can then make phone calls using the speakerphone function on that particular phone in the event of power loss. Otherwise, you can use one of the other handsets paired with the base station normally in cordless mode while a handset is in the base station providing power.

Another gripe that I have found with cordless phones is that range can be an issue if you have a multi-floor house or if you have a sparse property (so maybe a single level house with a large backyard). You might be doing some work in the backyard or up on another level in the house that is out of reach of the cordless base station. To mitigate this issue, the 803 series cordless phones also include a “location free repeater”. Much like how a repeater works for Wi-Fi this device repeats the signal from the base station to the phone and vice-versa. If you are looking to maximise range you should place the repeater towards the edge of the existing coverage provided by the base station (but not right on the edge where coverage drops off). Once you have found the best place you can hide it behind a plant or a lamp or somewhere convenient where there is a power socket.

The other main feature of the 803 series cordless phone is the inclusion of a 1.45 inch TFT LCD screen (which apparently a first for a landline cordless telephone).

Panasonic 803 Series Premium DECT Cordless Phone

It looks nice and it might be a bit easier to read in the evening if you get a phone call. The buttons are also backlit so you don’t need to reach for a light just to dial a number.

Some other notable features are:

• Answering machine (including message counter),
• Night mode (disables the ringtone during the night if you don’t fancy receiving late phone calls),
• Pairing of up to six handsets,
• Speakerphone, intercom and handset locater functionality,
• Call conferencing and call waiting compatibility.

I guess one of the big features that Windows Phone users have been hanging out for is a friendlier solution for internet sharing. Since the initial release, you could make it work by dialling a string of numbers into the phone and manually assigning the APN but it was hardly an elegant and easily invoked solution.

Hopefully by now everyone has managed to update to Mango (or will be shortly) but you may be wondering where on earth the option to enable internet sharing is located? Well, it should be in the Settings hub but it will most likely be hidden for the time being. At this point, I’d be hearing cries of “why, what now?” or something similar.

Basically, internet sharing relies upon two things in order to be activated, specifically:

1. Your carrier allowing you to use tethering on your account/plan,
2. Your handset manufacturer releasing updated drivers to make internet sharing work.

I came across this tidbit while trawling the web this evening.

Apparently, Toshiba have been working on an SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) card that incorporates two-way Wi-Fi connectivity. It is designed to be used in digital cameras that specifically support it (so you just can’t chuck it into any old SDHC compatible camera unfortunately) with aim of allowing your camera to wirelessly upload all or part of its contents to things like Facebook or a home server without having to use a computer as an intermediary device.

Furthermore, you can share photos directly between two cameras with FlashAir cards (which would mean you don’t have to remember who wants which photo e-mailed to them after you have taken it) and it seems to be smart enough to disable its wireless component when not in use – great for those Forgetful Joneses out there. Cloud service connectivity could also be an interesting way to sync multiple cameras together despite being geographically diverse.

Whilst 8GB capacities at launch in February 2012 might be enough for most people I’m sure there will be cries for larger 16GB and 32GB models for the high resolution crowd out there. Still, it’s an interesting development ahead of those early SDIO Wi-Fi cards from last decade that didn’t really take off.

Here’s a quick tip for tonight.

A while ago I noted that Windows Live Hotmail gained optional forced SSL connectivity but at the expense of being able to access your account through the Windows Live Mail client software on your desktop. This was certainly a deal breaker for me as I prefer to use the client software rather than the web interface.

Anyway, recently Microsoft has made it possible to have forced SSL encryption enabled that won’t break your ability to use Windows Live Mail on your Windows desktop. To enable this functionality you can enable it through the Windows Live account management page.

Simply put the dot next to “Use HTTPS automatically” and click “Save” and enjoy increased security all round!

Kindles are very good for packing a stack of documents into a lightweight device but not everything comes in PDF format. Sure, you could send an e-mail to your personalised e-mail address for your Kindle and have your document (of a supported format) converted and transferred to your Kindle over 3G for a fee but it’s so easy to do it yourself for no cost at all.

Perhaps the most labourious part is converting your documents to PDF. The easiest approach for almost any document is to use CutePDF Writer previously covered here. Of course, Office 2007 and 2010 include the ability to save PDF natively which might save you having to use a third party tool. After that, all you have to do is transfer the file to your Kindle by plugging it in, browsing to the “documents” folder on the device and copying in the PDFs. Next time you start up your Kindle, it should recognise your documents.

I use this to take all of my university documentation with me so I can read up on the go.